Are You Standing in God’s Way? | Don’t Stand in the Way | Acts 11

[SPEAKER_00]: So today's message title is going to be don't stand in the way so last week if you're here or if you go back and listen to it But we called it even them and it was really that's kind of what at least my hope for that whole sermon was about even them even the unlikely person and in Acts chapter 10 what we saw there's this

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: kind of it's a big moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now it might seem like a small moment when you're reading through the Bible if you read through it and you're just like, I read a chapter a day and you're just skimming through it and Acts chapter 10's a little weird, right?

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Because Peter sees a vision, there's a sheet coming down, it's full of animals and God says, rise, kill and eat Peter and Peter says something to the Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, like, basically, absolutely not God.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've never done that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've never ate anything unclean and then God does something

[SPEAKER_00]: Peter, which seems to be a trend in Peter's life, but Peter, or God tells Peter, don't call unclean what I've called unclean.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says it happens three times.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's this massive moment in the story of the church.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, it might seem a little weird obscure, but what's happening here, right, in Acts chapter 10, Peter eventually goes to Cornelius's house.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: If you remember who Cornelius is,

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a Gentile, here's this question, pop quiz, do Jews and Gentiles associate or hang out with each other?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, they don't, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: At least not in that day, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So what God's doing in Acts chapter 10 is he's breaking down a cultural barrier that's been there for hundreds, even thousands of years where it's like, you don't go over to their house, they don't come over to your house, you don't meet for coffee with a Gentile person, if you're a Jewish man, you don't have dinner with them, right?

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: That's just not how it wasn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: So in this moment, Acts chapter 10, God's breaking down this wall, it's a huge deal.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: There's people for Peter.

[SPEAKER_00]: His whole life, he was raised, taught, experienced, taught them all these things that Gentiles were unclean.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't go to their homes.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're not having, when he's a kid, probably, no, you're not having to sleep over with little Jimmy because he's a Gentile.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like you don't eat their food, you don't go sit around their tables, you don't associate with these people, you get an Acts chapter 10, God tells Peter, hey, you're going to go to Cornelius's house, you're going to go there and so Peter in obedience, he goes there, he walks into his house and what he does, this is one thing Peter does well as he preaches Jesus.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, he has a lot of moments where you like Peter, he could have done better.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really Peter, like seriously, you know what I'm talking about, like Peter has these moments where he just speaks what he thinks and is like maybe he shouldn't have thought or said that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what he does really well is he preaches Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: he preaches the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in before Peter finishes preaching where we ended last week is that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon even the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: For the first time in history of the world, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And first time in the Bible this happens that the Holy Spirit's poured out to the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Gentiles again, unclean according to everything that culture

[SPEAKER_00]: Jewish culture would say, everything that Peter knew growing up, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, these aren't people, they would hang out with, these are people that didn't look like them, speak like them, live like them and yet God says, no, I want, I want to save them too, even them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think for us today's message is kind of a continuation, we could even call it even them part.

[SPEAKER_00]: too, but just think for yourself, who's the person in your life that you've written off?

[SPEAKER_00]: They can't be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're too far gone.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their life is too messy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their life makes me feel uncomfortable when I'm around them.

[SPEAKER_00]: You kind of try to distance yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: But understand this is that God wants to save even them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what I love about Acts chapter 11 is the continuation of an Acts chapter 10.

Acts 11 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Peter learned.

[SPEAKER_00]: a new lesson, that Jesus is for everybody, not just the Jews, but also the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Acts chapter 11, the other apostles and Jewish guys, they're going to learn that Jesus is for everyone, right?

Acts 11 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: And so what we're going to see here is just this unfolding, and so verse 1 of chapter 11,

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll read through the first three verses, then we'll kind of break it down.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it says, now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him saying, you went to uncircumized men and ate with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know there's some weird words going on here, but it's like, okay, you have the Gentiles, and you have the Jews, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: When it says the uncircumcized men, that's the Gentile people.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's anyone who's not Jewish, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so verse 1 says, now the apostles and the brothers, they heard that the Gentiles had received the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: This should be incredible news, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if you're like, hey, we made a breakthrough.

[SPEAKER_00]: We went to a new

[SPEAKER_00]: people grew up and we broke through their language and we shared the gospel with them and it was incredible.

[SPEAKER_00]: You think people would be celebrating that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wouldn't you especially the apostles, the disciples of that day in age?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you agree?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so you guys are waking alive here.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're good online.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're good.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're just getting started guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we've got we've got to get this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this should be incredible news.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Gentiles have received the word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: People are getting saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: The gospel is spreading after all.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what Jesus said.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, go to all nations and make disciples of them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't just hold this for yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: And like Sam even said in the announcements, it's like, we're meant to go out and share Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is not just to be your best kept secret.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's my Savior, but not for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now he's the savior of the world, he loves everyone, he died for the sins of anyone who would repent and believe in Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so you would think they'd be excited, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: The mission that Jesus gave them, it's happening.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's unfolding before our very eyes, but then Peter, he gets back to Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: And instead of them saying, Peter, like this is incredible, tell us everything that happened, it says that they did something, it's a little discouraging, it says they criticized him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, verse three tells us because it says, you went to Gentiles on circumcised men and you ate with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what they're upset about.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're criticizing him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, okay, we hear you.

[SPEAKER_00]: The gospel went out to the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're hearing the gospel, the good news, they're learning about Jesus, but they criticize him and say essentially, but you ate with unclean people.

[SPEAKER_00]: You went into their house, Peter.

[SPEAKER_00]: You sat at their table, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You associated with people that we are not supposed to mix with at all.

[SPEAKER_00]: And here's something we can learn at points in our life is that sometimes, God will be doing something and the people you think would be most excited about it are the ones who will criticize it the most.

[SPEAKER_00]: And something I've learned, I'm learning and sometimes it just takes time for others to catch up to speed.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, we can't just judge them and write them off.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to see Peter, he responds well.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't blow up and get angry and rebuked them.

[SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes it'll just take some time for others to celebrate what God is doing in that moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, but then on the flip side, say we're the Jewish people, something we can consider is like we can be like these guys who heard that Peter met with the Gentiles and we're so concerned about our culture or our traditions.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we hold so tightly to him that we start to dismiss or miss all together what God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, and I think that's a

[SPEAKER_00]: a danger you know like if we miss what God is doing like he's always at work amen all around us are you might think well i haven't seen God in a while or he hasn't done anything in my life it's like just take a second pray breathe and look around you

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, God is working all the time throughout our lives last night when I was putting our oldest son to bed and we were just talking about why we came out to church plant in the first place and he said, you know why we came out and he's like, well yeah, you said, you know, Jesus told you to go plant a church and I was like, well, he didn't like say nuke.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can need to go to Austin and plant a church, but I gave them more of the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, this is how God has worked through my life as multiple things, different people, different scenes that came together to say basically one message where God was confirming over and over again that this is what we're supposed to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, God will work in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes we hold so close to tradition of how we think God should work, that we miss what

[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, that's a danger, it's a bummer because I don't want to miss out on what God's doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And one thing is that we'll hold on to our traditions that we won't celebrate what God's doing in someone else's life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you think, well, they're on clean and they've done too much.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so when they come to receive Jesus, you're like, well, I don't know, time will tell.

[SPEAKER_00]: We criticize, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see what happens, but we should celebrate that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the one thing I wrote down that it's saying that everyone is welcome or Jesus loves everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Easy to believe it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like that preaches good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus loves everybody.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus is for everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: The gospel is for everybody.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's easy to say it and preach in all that until everyone shows up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then all of a sudden it's like, well, wait a second, they're going to sit next to me, it turned.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, I didn't, that guy, they're here, I guess Jesus, you know what I'm saying?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it gets hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that starts to confront our own personal, I don't know, preference, our own personal thoughts.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, God's always at work, and you're always stirring.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so Peter goes here and he's like, man, God's working, even to the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they, their first response is criticism.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what I love about Peter in this moment too is that he hinders, he doesn't back down, he doesn't try to explain it away, but what we see here too is that Peter is literally he's walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I've asked myself this question many times, just thinking, okay, God, what do you want me to do?

[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes we pray, God, show me the next steps, and it doesn't always happen that easy, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, God, just show me where I'm supposed to go, like, give me directions, like a GPS and show me what job you want me to go to or all these things, but God doesn't always work that way, but when I, what I've asked myself multiple times, like, okay, so,

[SPEAKER_00]: we're followers of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you believe in Jesus, you're a follower of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then the question is, okay, well then where did Jesus go?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because wherever he went, then that's like, okay, that's where we're going.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're following our leader.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, well, where did Jesus go?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, he went to people that would society, the Jewish people would say we're outcasts.

[SPEAKER_00]: unclean.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus healed, not just healed leopards, but like he touched them to heal them, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: That was ceremonially unclean.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did he do?

[SPEAKER_00]: He also went to the Samaritan woman, the woman at the well.

[SPEAKER_00]: You guys remember that?

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a time when he's criticized by people because Jesus has seen eating with what they said it was sinners and tax collectors.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus, again, he just kind of breaks the mold of what culture might say because Jesus is trying to reach everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Peter, in this moment, he's just following the example of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And man, I encourage you and me, that's our job.

[SPEAKER_00]: Follow the example of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't worry about the world or what someone at church is going to say, what are you doing, talking to them or hanging out of them?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, go and preach Jesus and do it confidently, and because God told you to do it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to feel sorry like, well, you know, explaining it away.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you talking to that person that someone else deems is unworthy?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because the truth is we're all unworthy.

[SPEAKER_00]: And one thing we can learn from this, too, is like there's a difference, a big difference between holiness and legalism.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the religious leaders of this day, they would have thought their legalism is what makes them holy, but that's couldn't be from the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is what makes us holy.

[SPEAKER_00]: His blood is what makes us clean, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: His blood shed for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so we got to understand when you hold on to legalism, which really, I mean, I think we'd all hopefully say, well, I don't want to be a legalist, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: But our humanity, I think, tends towards it.

[SPEAKER_00]: because we want to have rules and structure and things.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we start to add stuff to the gospel, saying, well, it has to be this way.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we think that's how God's going to work and operate.

[SPEAKER_00]: But holyness is a whole another thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Holyness is a work and a move of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I just love that Peter, though.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's just here.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's following in Jesus' footsteps.

[SPEAKER_00]: It says that they criticized him there.

[SPEAKER_00]: They said, you are eating with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's their critique.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their big complaint.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then in verse 4, it says that Peter began and explained it to them in order.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, again, his response, he doesn't get angry at least from what we can tell.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't yell at them, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I think when someone critiques you, we can get self-defensive, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or defensive of it, and we like to try to argue our point, but we can get a little like overzealous, if you will.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have someone critiques you at work and they say, hey, you're not, you could do this better.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you guys like to be critiqued?

[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody?

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, one person, two people.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, cool.

[SPEAKER_00]: Three people, four.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is good though.

[SPEAKER_00]: In criticism, I mean, it is good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, healthy, constructive criticism.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then it can also, what it does is really, it offends our pride.

[SPEAKER_00]: And someone says, well, you could do this better.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, ooh, that hurt.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then our response, our human responses, we try to defend ourselves and explain why we're right, and you're wrong, we did our best, and all these things, but Peter doesn't do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't say you legalist, Pharisees, you got it all wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't pull his position out and say, and I'm Peter, and walked on water, Peter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was only for a few seconds, but that was me, I'm that Peter.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't do any of that.

[SPEAKER_00]: He just says, let me tell you what happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you what God did, and he starts to walk him through it, and we'll see.

[SPEAKER_00]: He shows that God gave him a vision, and I'm getting ahead of myself.

[SPEAKER_00]: So let's just read it here, verse 5.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what he says.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was in the city of Java praying.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in a trans, I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its forecoerters, and it came down to me looking at it closely, I observed animals in beast of prey and reptiles and birds of the air, and I heard a voice saying to me rise, Peter, kill and eat.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I said, by no means, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the voice answered a second time from heaven, what God has made clean do not call common.

[SPEAKER_00]: This happened to me three times and all was drawn up again into heaven, verse 11.

[SPEAKER_00]: And behold, at that very moment, three men arrived at the house in which we were sent to me from Cessaria.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction.

[SPEAKER_00]: These six brothers also accompanied me.

[SPEAKER_00]: and we entered the man's house for 13 and he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and say, send to Japa and bring Simon who is called Peter, he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved you in all your household as I begin to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I remember the word of the Lord how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this is what Peter does.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't make a defense for himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not trying to make himself look better.

[SPEAKER_00]: He just says, hey, this is what happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: God gave me a vision.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, God sent these men to come ask me a question, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: The Spirit told me to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, this isn't something I conjured up on my own, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You guys are criticizing me for eating with the Gentiles, but you got to understand Peter before this moment, Acts chapter 10 at least, Peter would have done the same thing.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: You ate with Gentiles, was wrong with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't eat with Gentiles right there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Unclean people, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: But now God's broken down the walls and now Peter's understanding is that God is trying to reach far more than just the Jewish people.

[SPEAKER_00]: He wants to reach the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he's like, the Spirit told me to go, and I went.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was obedient, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And what I did when I got there is I preached Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as I was preaching the Holy Spirit fell on me, and again, it's like, who am I to say, tell God what He can or can't do?

[SPEAKER_00]: I just went to be obedient.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's something in that what we can understand is like, when you go in obedience to what God has called you to do or put on your heart, you'll start to see God does the things, the miraculous.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like all of a sudden someone you thought couldn't be saved, but we'll do this too often.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I honestly think, and maybe this is just me being vulnerable.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the people I think are the furthest from God are the most ripe for salvation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever seen this in your life?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like the person that you're like man that do, he's the piece of work and he's got a lot of things that work through.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna pray for you, but it's gonna be a while.

[SPEAKER_00]: You kind of think that, but that's the person like if you go preach Jesus, they show up at church one Sunday because someone invited them, like that's the person that all of a sudden you're gonna see them, like raise their hand to receive Jesus and you're gonna be like, whoa, like that dude, he's given his life to Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: You'll see this stuff happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was one of my best friends.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this part, this was in 2010, maybe.

[SPEAKER_00]: He could tell you the exact date, but I invited him.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was on my way back to Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've get recommitted in my life to Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've given up drugs and alcohol.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I was still at a lot of things to work through with the Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: In my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, I remember that day.

[SPEAKER_00]: I went to my counselor, I went to counselor for three years.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not ashamed to say it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was ashamed of first, I didn't want anyone to know, but now I'm like, I believe in it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he was a Christian counselor, I went there and I told him that day, I was like, man, like, I want to be used by God, but I don't know how, like I felt like I ruined my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: God gave me opportunities.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just threw it in the trash and I've done too much.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was my own pity party, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's told me to nick, like,

[SPEAKER_00]: God doesn't want to just use you in five years when you clean up your life like that's what I thought I had to do He's like he wants to use you today and so I thought about that and so there was a concert It was a Christian rap concert.

[SPEAKER_00]: He'd be like rap

[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, don't, yes, let's go, all right, thank you, we're not alone.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's a Christian rap concert, it's happening at our church, it's a guy I never heard before, but I invited my friend, my best friend, he was a manager at Jack in the Box, and he worked seven days a week, all the time, because people, you know, Jack in the Box, they just call in like every single day, working with teenagers and stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: But, um, so usually he'll say no, but I said, hey man, what are you doing tonight?

[SPEAKER_00]: You want to go to this Christian rap concert, like I don't know if it's going to be good.

[SPEAKER_00]: You want to come with me to this thing and he said, yeah, actually, I'm not doing anything tonight.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to work.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was the first thing I was like, whoa, like God is already doing more than I thought he would do.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I invite him, we go to this wrap concert, it's pretty good.

[SPEAKER_00]: And at the end of it, the guy's given an altar call.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he gives a whole gospel message.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was amazing, it was powerful.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he gives the altar call, if you want to receive Jesus, and it wasn't like a packed-out sanctuary.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was more than we have here, but maybe like three times as much, like it wasn't huge, but this guy is like, if you want to receive Jesus today, just raise up your hand.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to come down front, and we're going to pray for you today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this guy does this like four or five times, you know, and I don't know if you're like me sometimes, like okay, do you like the people who are going to come?

[SPEAKER_00]: They're already up there, like we can wrap this thing up, and that's just my own legalism, I guess.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what you'll call it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But

[SPEAKER_00]: towards the end, like, so he gives these different altar calls and gives more of his testimony, he gives another altar call and, like, so the Spirit starts stirring me up, I'm like, I need to go and, like, recommit my life to the Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, like, God's calling me, and so the guy's like, this is the last call I'm gonna do today, you know?

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's like, and there's some of you, you're sitting in your seats, and you know, God's calling you, and your heart's pounding.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's like, that's the Holy Spirit saying, like, do get up out of your seat and come down and receive Jesus today.

[SPEAKER_00]: and so he's like on the count of three I'm gonna call you guys back up here so last one last chance today so he's like one two three so I stand up because I'm like well I'm gonna go down there and and I was fighting like pride I'm like well everyone thinks I'm a Christian already and if I go down there he's gonna nick was faking the whole time and I was like whatever I don't care what anyone believes

[SPEAKER_00]: So I got up, but right as I stand up, my best friend stands up, and I was like, holy cow, this is crazy, you know, and it was just so cool.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, God will do far more than you expect if you'll just be obedient and follow the little things that he has.

[SPEAKER_00]: You go and invite someone to church or invite someone in or ask them, hey, can I pray for you?

[SPEAKER_00]: God will do some incredible things, and so Peter, he's just being obedient.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: make this whole scene happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't go rent a venue and say, hey, all Gentile people come here.

[SPEAKER_00]: He just went there to preach Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: The next thing you know, the Holy Spirit is being poured out on them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Peter, again a reminder, just a few days earlier, he's just like these Jewish

[SPEAKER_00]: Religious leaders in his legalism.

[SPEAKER_00]: He would have thought the same thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so And I think that helps for Peter when he's giving his story.

[SPEAKER_00]: They say, why were you eating with them?

[SPEAKER_00]: Peter's like, well, because This is what happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: God gave me a vision and he confirmed it and the spirit said to go I think there's power in this because Peter can say I I understand your point of view

[SPEAKER_00]: There's power when someone understands where you're coming from, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You can speak on the same level and so Peter's not speaking down to them at all He's just saying hey, I get what you think But let me show you what God's taught me here and how he's starting to work here and so verse 17, all right, let's see I got a lot of notes that I didn't hit but verse 17 says then if God

[SPEAKER_00]: If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this part of Peter's defense, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, hey, this is all what happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: What God wanted to do, and if God wants to do it, who am I to stand in the way?

[SPEAKER_00]: Why would I try to make a thing's harder and this is the message I hope we can see today is I mean don't don't stand in the way I don't let your pride your stubbornness your Tradition what you might have grown up in what you were even taught in the church to believe and stuff like keep God in a box because you can't keep God in a box

[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to try and take you to do different things and so who are we to stand in the way?

[SPEAKER_00]: And Peter's saying that, like, guys, like, what do you want me to do?

[SPEAKER_00]: Tell God, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I can't tell God, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: He told me to do this.

[SPEAKER_00]: He prepared Cornelius.

[SPEAKER_00]: He gave me the message.

[SPEAKER_00]: He poured out the Spirit and God saved them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Who am I to tell God now?

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I think that's a question for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Are we maybe standing in the way of someone else receiving Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because we're too prideful, or we have preference.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we're just kind of like, ah, I can't talk to that person, or I don't want to go there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And some other things that stand in the way between us and people, I mean, it be sides tradition and preference, but politics.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't talk to them, they're feeling blank, whatever side of the party.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't be associated, I can't be seen having lunch with them, or even think I remember one time here in Hadoa's meeting a guy, and he was a Mormon, which was a whole interesting thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, I'm all about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, let's go, let's talk about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Open your Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's not the real Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here do you take this one?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I didn't do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But someone from the church saw me there and they're like, what are you guys doing here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because they knew that person who was this Mormon guy, and they knew me because they came here for a while.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nick, is there something I need to know?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like to me, it's like, well, we can't let pride and prejudice get in the way of God's work.

[SPEAKER_00]: To me, I'm like, this dude needs to know Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, and that was just my thing, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm here.

[SPEAKER_00]: God opened the door.

[SPEAKER_00]: This guy asked me to get coffee with him.

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm going to respond.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go have coffee with this dude.

[SPEAKER_00]: And see what happens there.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we let these things get in our way, where we stand in the way because we're too stubborn.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're two, I don't know what the word could even be.

[SPEAKER_00]: You feel in the blank, you know what I'm saying?

[SPEAKER_00]: And if this is for you this morning, maybe we fear what others are going to think.

[SPEAKER_00]: We fear criticism from people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Nick, what are you doing having coffee with the Mormon guy?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, well, you know, and I think before, if you're on that side of judging someone, like, just ask, say, wait, what was going on there?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, well, is there to represent Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: And the real Bible, you know?

[SPEAKER_00]: are we standing in the way?

[SPEAKER_00]: Are you letting something in your life keep you from what God wants to do in someone else's life?

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there's the truth of the matter is, I mean, if say you say no and you're just like, no God, I'm not gonna go.

[SPEAKER_00]: God will raise up somebody else.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm like, for me, personally, I don't wanna miss anything God has for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I've lived my life for myself long enough in my B.C.

[SPEAKER_00]: years, before Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, but now I'm like, God, here I am.

[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I just want to be available.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be used for you in any way, shape, or form, whatever that might look like.

[SPEAKER_00]: No matter how tired that might make me feel or whatever God, here I am, I'm here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to miss any of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, but is that, is that our heart?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or do we let things get in our way?

[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, again, I mean,

[SPEAKER_00]: I think of, and maybe this is selfish in a way, but it's like our six-year anniversary, September 20th.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just think of it, and I've told our team this and the church, but I really do believe that it has some big things in store for our church, bigger than what we even see now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know what that means, if that means that it's going to be more people or maybe it's just more depths, both are good, I think, you know, we're going to grow in depth of our relationship with the Lord, but a lot of it is contingent upon our obedience, you know what I'm saying?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I can work myself to the bone and do everything that God has asked to me, but

[SPEAKER_00]: We're open, whatever God you want, whatever you want me to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whoever you want me to invite to church, whoever you want me to share your gospel with, I'm here for it.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, what might that look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm not here to say that your guys aren't doing that, but I just think too.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like sometimes we have this mentality like, well, Nick, that's your job.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're the pastor, you're the preacher, you're to share the gospel and like I will.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, bringing your friends as family to church, you're whoever, I'll preach Jesus every Sunday.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, every chance that I get.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you're going to be the biggest representative for Jesus in that person's life.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to look at me and be like, well, that's just what he does.

[SPEAKER_00]: But they're going to look at your life and say, but I know you, and who you used to be, who you are today, and I know that you, you are a new person.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're changed.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're different.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they're going to see that change.

[SPEAKER_00]: So again, I just think if we all are just all in what could God do, what might that look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: If we just simply invited someone to church, what might that look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: I can go out and invite a bunch of people in my own realm, but there's people in your own life that I can never reach.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's people in my life that you could never reach.

[SPEAKER_00]: You understand that, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's not a crazy concept, but I just think if we just let this kind of fear of man, our own

[SPEAKER_00]: Judgments of people, subside, and we just invite them to church, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, preaching like, hey, Jesus is for everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: The gospel is for everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's easy to say, but it's a lot harder to practice in real life, because we're like, well, but not that person, Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I can't go talk to them, but again, maybe that's the one person Jesus is like, no, you're going to be the one who's going to lead them to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so Peter, he preaches this verse 18, it says, when they heard these things, they fell silent.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I love this, Peter's not destroying them by arguing with them and trying to win an argument, but really what he's doing, he's just presenting the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus says it himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, hey, the truth will set you free.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in this moment, I believe these religious leaders, these, I mean, followers of Jesus, but there have a lot of legalism to work through.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're hearing the truth for the first time, like, wait, okay, even then, okay, I see now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And their response is that they're quiet, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: They, I think they're probably pondering this a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well, if that did happen, then that means how we've been living and operating is now wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we should probably be open to

[SPEAKER_00]: the movement of the Holy Spirit and what he might want to do and they so I think they realize they're wrong they stop they pondered this I think it shows maturity I think we could even take a lesson from that when you've realized you're wrong I mean the first thing isn't just respond sometimes the best thing is just sit there be quiet think about it for a second think about your response.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in this moment for these guys, God's Word is confronting something that they, they believe probably their whole life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their mom and dad told them that this is the how it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't talk with them, they don't talk to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Something that they assumed, something deeply rooted in them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so God though, in this moment, is confronting them with his Word and using Peter as the spokesperson.

[SPEAKER_00]: and their responses are just quiet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I'm wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe tradition isn't what God wants me to be so worried about here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe God's doing something bigger than what I can even perceive.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so it says they fell silent, this isn't, and they glorified God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Saying then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, I think this is,

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's powerful.

[SPEAKER_00]: Acts chapter 10, Peter learned this lesson.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Acts chapter 11, the rest of the church, early church, they're starting to learn this too.

Acts 11 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: But okay, the gospel is.

[SPEAKER_00]: for everyone, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And what they do here is they glorified God.

[SPEAKER_00]: They change their minds, which changing their mind is another word for repentance.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you guys like word studies, go study repent.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a Greek word, calling in Nia, not calling Nia.

[SPEAKER_00]: Metanoia, calling Nia is fellowships.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're calling in Nia.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wait a second.

[SPEAKER_00]: Metanoia, but it just literally means to change your mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: to change your mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what they're doing here in real life and real time.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're changing their mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: So they went from criticizing Peter, how could you eat with these people, these outcasts of society, to now all of a sudden they're praising God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so God's changing their hearts.

[SPEAKER_00]: God's doing a work in them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And something that encouraged you and I is God's still doing a work in us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter if you're a new believer, you gave your life to Jesus this week.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe it was 20 years ago, maybe you've been a Christian your whole life.

[SPEAKER_00]: God still has work to do in you, and he's still going to do that and oftentimes through other people who are just going to speak the truth to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes we can just take us minute, we pause, we're silent, and we can respond and say, I think you're right, and we can glorify God and we can praise God, thank you God that you're opening my eyes to see this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And says they said then to the Gentiles, also God has granted repentance to lead to life, which tells us a lot about their beliefs before this moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, okay, God is granted, like He's given them the ability if they want it to repent and have eternal life.

[SPEAKER_00]: The prior to this, their understanding was Gentiles could not be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know if you've met some people of this, maybe some of you are this today.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a theological term and denomination, but there's one called Calvinism.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you are Calvinist here, you're welcome here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love, I have a lot of friends with Calvinist, but I disagree on some things.

[SPEAKER_00]: But they have a belief that there's people who, I mean, basically there's the elect, and I understand the argument, and maybe this is more than I should share right now, but it's fun for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's the elect, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: The Bible talks about it, and you can have different cases for they like, well, there's Paul.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't choose to be a Christian, God made him blind and called him, and yes, he did, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: There's Moses, and that God called him out of a burning bush.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of biblical cases for that,

[SPEAKER_00]: So they'll use that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, God calls and if you're called

[SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing you can do really to not be called.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does that make sense?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or be saved?

[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe I'm oversimplifying things.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're a Calvinist and you want to talk about this later, you can correct me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm open.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be silent.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll listen and we'll glorify God together afterwards.

[SPEAKER_00]: But they think, okay, there's those who are called to be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus died for these people.

[SPEAKER_00]: But essentially, they believe in what is it called?

[SPEAKER_00]: So there's two lip.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's total depravity, unlimited, something.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[SPEAKER_00]: Just talking to myself here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Limited atonement, I think is what it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: So limited atonement, Jesus died for the sins of the elect, not for the sins of every single human being on the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's kind of their belief.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's those who can be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then everybody else who's not part of the elect, their belief is like, there's nothing you can do to be saved that God has made you for essentially for destruction.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I have a lot of problems with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just because I read verses where it says that God desires that everyone comes to repentance.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not the elect comes to repentance, because if we're going to go that route, like, well, the elect, they're already going to come to Jesus, because they're elect, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So then why would Jesus say I want everyone to come to me?

[SPEAKER_00]: So this is just the thing, but this is part of what these guys are like, well, before this moment, I thought the Gentiles could never be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm trying to say.

[SPEAKER_00]: Before this moment, Gentiles that couldn't be saved, but now Peter, I'm seeing, I'm understanding that you said you went and preached Jesus, and as you're preaching the Holy Spirit fell even on the Gentiles, and I think Peter said, yeah, I mean, I mean, I was as mind blown as you guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they're saying that, okay, we see this now, that even to the Gentiles, even them, God is granting repentance that leads to life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, this is like last week's message this week tied together, even them, and these guys are starting to see this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And a bigger picture, and I hope that you would start to see this too.

[SPEAKER_00]: That even the person you're writing off, the person you think can't be saved, whatever, even them they can be saved.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus loves them too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus died for the sins of the world, and He wants us to go out to be His vessels.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: We're the messenger, and we're just going to share the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to invite people to know Jesus, and we're hopefully we won't stand in God's way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because again, that's the question today.

[SPEAKER_00]: Are you standing in God's way?

[SPEAKER_00]: What are you maybe telling God?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm not going to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I know you want me to love my coworkers, but they don't really love me.

[SPEAKER_00]: So until they get their act together, I'm not going to, you know, like, where are you standing in God's way?

[SPEAKER_00]: Where he might be trying to work.

[SPEAKER_00]: in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think of Jonah.

[SPEAKER_00]: You guys know the story of Jonah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Old Testament, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And he told God, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this might be a case for the elex as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Jonah, he runs away.

[SPEAKER_00]: God tells them, say, hey, go to Nineveh and tell them they got a repent.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if they don't repent, then 40 days, they're going to, I'm going to bring destruction.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jonah's like, pass.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Ninevites, those dudes like the guys who put like hooks and people's mouths and chain them up and they're all kinds of crazy Instead, no, I don't like them.

[SPEAKER_00]: They don't like me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm good.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna get on a boat.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna go away to a nice island That sounds good, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So he gets on the boat.

[SPEAKER_00]: You guys know this and then all sudden storms come and everything's going crazy and

[SPEAKER_00]: everyone on the boat starts to like, hey, everybody call out to your God, maybe they're real, and maybe they'll save us, and so they're calling out to their God's, nothing's happening, Jonah seems to be quiet, and then he's at the end of it all.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, all right, guys, I got a little secret, uh, it's me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm the reason all this is happening.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm running from Yahweh and they're like, are you kidding me?

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I just throw me overboard and that's Jonah's thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I rather die than go save the Ninevites But then God in his grace, he saves him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, fish, swallows him up.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I just think of that.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, God's going to call you to some people that you won't want to go preach to.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to want to love them.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to want to help them.

[SPEAKER_00]: But God's going to stir your heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to know like, but this is who he wants me to go minister to today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it'll be surprised when it does happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: When there is this breakthrough moment, you're going to glorify God because you're going to be like, wow, who was I to tell God no?

[SPEAKER_00]: God, you're so good.

[SPEAKER_00]: You could save even this person who seemed to me to be so far gone.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so maybe God wants you to go, maybe he wants you to speak, maybe he wants you to invite some one or want you to simply go sit at their table.

[SPEAKER_00]: and have a meal with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when you do, oh, it's, you preach Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: You share Jesus, you share the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for my encouragement, don't stand in the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't let your preferences, traditions, comfort, stand in the way, go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Love people well, sit with people, invite people into your life and tell people about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And let God decide,

[SPEAKER_00]: What he's going to do all right like God decide who's going to respond and repent and all that stuff because the Bible tells us that we just Water and we plant right like we but God brings the fruit We could try as hard as we want but we can't produce fruit but what we can do is we can plant seeds seeds would be sharing the gospel Loving people and we could water them

[SPEAKER_00]: water those seeds with prayer.

[SPEAKER_00]: Water it with checking in on people.

[SPEAKER_00]: How are you doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Water was say, hey, I'm praying for you today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And God will do what God's going to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: But who are we to stand in God's way?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so with that, we're going to close here in worship and communion.

[SPEAKER_00]: And my wife is in kids ministry.

[SPEAKER_00]: If someone could possibly text her, there we go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, and on that note,

[SPEAKER_00]: Sam did not mention this.

[SPEAKER_00]: We do need some people to help serve and his ministry is one of them.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're extremely Skeleton crew, but anyway, that's not part of my message.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a freebie Through with it as you will, but God we thank you for this morning We thank you that we can just come together as brothers and sisters

[SPEAKER_00]: in Christ, Lord, we thank you that you've loved us, that you've called us, that you've opened our eyes to see your goodness, your grace, your mercy, Lord, and that many of us have responded and we've received that in our life God.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I pray for the ones here today that maybe haven't received that, maybe they're watching online or listening later.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, I pray that you'd stir their hearts God to just respond.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, you're calling them to repent and to change their life.

[SPEAKER_00]: style choices or the direction of their life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I pray that you would change their minds today and that they would come to a saving faith in you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And God I also pray for us here today.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we've been walking with you for a while and we think we got things figured out but God I pray we would never rely on our tradition or our culture or our upbringing but God that we would

[SPEAKER_00]: And that at the right time, and in the right moments, God, that you would bring to remembrance your word, what you say that you will, and I know that you do.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I just pray that you do that in our lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, give us the empowering Lord to be a witness wherever we go, even to the ones we think are unlikely, or maybe we think it's a waste of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, I pray that we be open to your movement in our life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I pray that you'd forgive us of having a judgmental heart at times.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, a stubborn heart of not wanting to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: I pray God that you just give us a soft heart that is open and moldable, Lord, that's your spirit that you would mold us and shape us into the men and women you want to be God.

[SPEAKER_00]: As I said earlier, Lord, I know you have more for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: as a church, and I don't know all of what that is, but God, I pray that we'd all be just all in and here.

[SPEAKER_00]: For whatever it is that you want to do in us and through us and the ferment church.

[SPEAKER_00]: So God, just I pray you pour your spirit out upon us.

[SPEAKER_00]: I pray that you'd forgive us of any sins, and I pray God that you would just give us a heart of gratitude that where we could just glorify you for the work that you do.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we pray this in Jesus' name.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.