Grace & Peace: A Journey Through the Book of Colossians - Part 8: Teamwork Peace | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. The series that we started

in the book of Colossians we call Grace and Peace.

Because grace and peace are the two legs of the

Christian walk. God wants you to follow him,

but he wants you to be walking in both his grace

and his peace. And if you are not experiencing

either one of those, then the book of Colossians

is with you. And for you in all the details that

we've been able to cover. So go back to the website,

the app to catch up with the studies if you have

not seen all of them yet. But today we are on

the eighth study of the series. And we are going

to be talking about God's peace flowing through

us into our teamwork. More about that in a moment.

But what we have learned so much so far in the

study of Colossians is that what you have, the

Apostle Paul telling us is, look, if you believe

in Jesus, if Jesus is your Savior and you're

following him, you have to understand that he

already saved you, brought you from darkness

into his kingdom of light. You are fully reconciled

with him. All your sins fully paid. You have

to worry no more about whether God will love

you or reject you or whether you are good enough.

Jesus has made you good enough. And therefore

you can rest on his grace. And once you understand

his grace, you start experiencing his peace.

But that grace and that peace now that you have

as you are rooted in him, this grace, this peace

starts flowing from you into all of these other

spaces in which you are. Your relationships with

people. Also your relationship at home and your

marriage with your children. Also your relationship

at work in the environment in which God has placed

you to serve him. Also the impact that we have

in our communities and the world as God leads

us to impact the world of darkness with his light.

And today he's going to add how God wants us

to impact our teamwork. With his love, with his

grace, with his peace. Now, it's an interesting

question because if I were to ask you how is

your experience with teamwork, nine out of ten

will say, well, you really want me to tell you.

Because teamwork always involves dynamics that

are challenging, that often are just discouragement

and a pain, just to put it bluntly. And when

we are thinking about serving the Lord and following

Him in the calling that He has given us, most

of the time, He's going to place you in positions

and roles in which you have to work with other

people in order to accomplish the things that

He is calling you to pursue. And that reality,

that space, is where God's grace and peace need

to flow. And what makes it challenging is that

if the experience of working with people is already

a challenge, how do you navigate that space?

You may be there and you say, well, I'm not work

outside. My husband is working full time. I'm

just on a visa here. I cannot work, so I'm a

stay -at -home mom. And it's like, I don't really

have a team so much I'm engaging with. Well,

let me tell you, if you are married, you have

a team. It's called marriage. It's husband, wife,

and God together, the three people in that team.

And therefore, you also have to make sure that

God's grace and peace is flowing into that team.

How does this work? And what are we going to

discover in this study is that there's a person

with a calling. And the Apostle Paul wants to

encourage this person to make sure that they

remain faithful to that calling despite the challenges

that he, as a mature follower of Jesus, experienced

leader, knows this guy is going to experience.

So he writes to him to encourage him to be faithful

to that calling. So we'll go and explore. You

must remember that this letter was written as

the Apostle Paul is in prison, and he is writing

it to these people in the city of Colossae. And

we have gone through the whole book, and towards

the end, we are going to be reading the very

last verses of this book. It's going to be a

selection of greetings. Hey, greet so -and -so

and so -and -so and so -and -so and tell this

person hi and remember this person, he's with

me. And by the way, give this reminder to this

person to be faithful to God's calling. And that's

the flow of the end of the book. So let's see

what it has to say. Tychicus will give you a

full report about how I'm getting along. He is

a beloved brother and a faithful helper who serves

with me in the Lord's work. I have sent him to

you for this very purpose, to let you know how

we are doing and to encourage you. I'm also sending

Onesimus, faithful beloved brother, one of your

own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything

that's happening here in Rome. Aristarchus, who

is in prison with me, sends you his greetings,

and so does Mark. Yeah, Mark, Barnabas' cousin.

As you were instructed before, if Mark goes there,

make sure that he's welcome when he comes your

way. Jesus, not Jesus our Savior, but Jesus,

the one we call Justice. I know the name is common.

But Jesus' name, Justice, also sends you. His

greetings. These are the only Jewish believers

among my co -workers. They are working with me

here for the kingdom of God. And I can tell you

what a comfort they have been. Epaphras, well,

Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and

a servant of Christ Jesus, he also sends you

his greetings. I can tell you, he always prays

earnestly for you. Asking God to make you strong,

perfect, fully confident that you are following

the whole will of God. And this guy, I can assure

you that he prays hard for you. And also for

the believers in Laodicea and Herapolis, all

those cities that are just right next to you.

He's praying for all of you. Luke, the beloved

doctor, he also sends you his greetings. And

so does Dimas, this guy that he is here with

me too. Please give my greetings to our brothers

and sisters at Laodicea and to Nympha and the

church that meets in her house. After you have

read this letter, pass it on to the church in

Laodicea so they can read it too and you should

do the same thing. You read the letter that I

wrote to them. Exchange it. And please, make

sure you say to Archippus, be sure to carry out

the ministry the Lord gave you. And if there's

anything else I have to say, it's just this.

Here is my greeting in my own handwriting so

you know, Paul, right here, my signature there.

Because he's using a scribe to dictate the letter

and write it. But it's like, this is really me.

So you can know. Remember my chains. And may

God's grace be with you. And that is the end

of the letter. The Apostle Paul has served God

throughout all his adult life since the Lord

Jesus saved him. He pursued the calling that

God has given him faithfully. But it was tough.

He went through so many different circumstances.

But in all that space, he was able to see firsthand

the power that the gospel had to transform people's

lives. He went throughout the Roman Empire that

was filled with people with beliefs shaped by

Greek mythology, Roman mythology, and local places

and religions where they worship. Both spirits

and they worship things and deities that they

made up themselves. And in that world, he was

able to be the first person to enter that space

with the gospel. And he saw people coming to

believe. And when they believed, he saw the transformation

that started happening in them. But he was not

alone. Throughout all of these journeys where

he saw people coming to know Christ and Christian

communities started being formed throughout the

Roman Empire. and these churches being planted

that eventually became the focus of his letters

that we have in the New Testament, he got to

meet many people and work with some of them,

and he was able to start experiencing teamwork

firsthand, both the good and the ugly. And he

mentions at the end of his letter lots of people

and names of people that are there with him,

that have worked with him in the past, some that

came to visit him now that he's in prison. And

all of these names and this season of his life

is very meaningful, very important. And the connection

that he's going to give, Archippus and his church,

all of them come together. But in order to understand

this, we have to understand the background and

dig a little bit deeper. I imagine it like this.

Picture for a moment that I found the Apostle

Paul's cell phone and it's unlocked. And I'm

just curious, so I pick it up. Is it the Apostle

Paul's cell phone? Let me see his text. Wow,

Onesimus? Who is this guy? I have no idea. Let

me check. Oh, there he is. Oh, he names Onesimus

here too. But who is Philemon? Let me do a search

in his email. Philemon Onesimus. Like, oh, what

is that guy? You know, and before you know it,

a picture starts emerging once you start doing

all this detective work. Now, I know that doesn't

make you very confident in showing me your cell

phone now. But we don't have his cell phone,

of course, but we have his letters. And we're

going to take this later and start seeing what

are the connections, because once you see the

connections, wow, this becomes something so much

more powerful. Let me start by reminding you

that the Apostle Paul is, towards the end of

his life, he's in prison in Rome, awaiting trial.

And down the road, he is going to die, decapitated

at the hands of the Roman Emperor. He does not

know that yet. But the Lord has been speaking

in his heart that something is coming. But he's

in prison awaiting trial. And as he's in prison,

he leads Onesimus to Christ. And Onesimus was

this slave that had escaped from the area of

Colossae and came all the way to Rome. He shares

the gospel with him. Onesimus comes to know Christ.

And now we find out that Onesimus' master was

Philemon, who happened to be Paul's friend. Who

lived in that city. And Philemon was a Christian.

So now. Paul is wondering about all these things.

And it so happened that. The founder of that

church. That Philemon attended. His name Epaphras.

He is visiting right there in Rome. And now Paul

is asking him. All these questions about. So

tell me how is that church going. And what's

going on. And what are the challenges you are

facing. And as he hears all these things. Apostle

Paul says you know what. If it's okay with you,

I'm going to write a letter to this Colossians.

So he starts writing this letter. And he says,

you know what? I'm also going to write a letter

to this Philemon. And he writes this letter.

And now he has this letter. And it's like, who

do I send with these letters? They didn't grab

during those years. So he couldn't get a motorcycle.

So, hey, Tychicus, would you be willing to take

these letters? And Diacus says, sure, I'll go.

It's far, but I'll go. Would you take Onesimus

with you? Sure, we'll take the letters. So there

they went. And once they go there, and once we

get the letters for the Colossians and Philemon,

you take the letter of Philemon and you start

reading the beginning of it, and you discover

something. Paul starts saying at the beginning

of that letter, I'm writing to Philemon. Our

beloved co -worker. And to our sister, Appiah.

And to our fellow soldier, Archippus. And to

the church that meets in your house. Oh. Archippus

is the guy that he's addressing at the end of

Colossians. Saying, make sure that you are faithful

to God's calling. And now we realize that this

guy. Is here. He is the one that is leading now

the church of the Colossians. And he is leading

them in a season. In which they are being invaded

by all this teaching. And all these misconceptions

about Jesus and the gospel. And all this Jewish

teaching that is saying. As a Gentile you are

not good enough. You have to be circumcised and

follow the law of Moses. And then maybe you will

be saved. And all of these things. And Archippus

is now dealing with all of that stuff. And because

he's addressed here at the beginning of the letter

to Philemon, many Bible scholars believe that

Philemon is married to Appiah, and their son

is Archippus, who is now leading the church at

Colossae. We do not know that for certain, but

there seems to be a relationship there that is

family connections. So now that we find out who

this guy is, it starts making sense. Because

he says, said to Archippus, be sure to carry

out the ministry the Lord gave you. And he's

doing it from a position and a place of experience.

Wait. When the Apostle Paul says to you, make

sure that you are carrying the calling God has

given you, that is something. Because he has

gone through all of his life of service. And

now he's addressing a younger leader in a young

church facing all these challenges. And he sends

this letter to him. The letter of the Colossians.

So that his church can be blessed with all this

truth that he has written to them. And now you

understand that the Apostle Paul has all of these

people that he has worked with. He's an experienced

leader. And he knows what it's like. To have

to lead in a place where teamwork is challenging

because of all the dynamics that are happening.

And now he is in a place of experience, maturity.

And now he has developed a group of people that

he trusts, that love him. It's like what we call

a dream team. It takes a long time to get there.

And it was not easy. And all of these names are

there. And he says, you know, this guy is faithful.

Oh, this is beloved. Oh, this is such a comfort

to me. You know, all the descriptions that he

gives about all these people, they are very encouraging.

And when I'm reading all of those, I can't help

but wonder. It's like if you had to describe

the people in your team, what words would you

use? This person, I wish I knew before I hired

them. Or oh this person. The reality we can see.

That if we are going to be serving the Lord in

our calling. He is going to position us. To serve

in whatever capacity he is calling you to serve

him with. And you will have to work with people.

And that space of working with people. Is going

to be an invitation. To let God's grace and his

peace flow through you into that team. Rather

than use the dynamics of the team as an excuse

to stop following God's calling. And that's why

this letter ends with such a strong calling to

this guy Archippus. Archippus, I know it's hard

to be leading where you are. Make sure that you

follow God's calling. And something emerges from

this picture. Because to get to the place where

he is, he went through a journey and he overcame

common challenges that they had to go through.

One of those problems that they had to overcome

was the problem of motive. Not everybody working

in his team throughout the years had the right

motives. And once you're working with people

that have ulterior motives and healthy motives,

it creates toxicity in the team. And now you

have to navigate that space. And what are you

going to do? We know because we have one of the

other emails, one of the other texts in his cell

phone. And he writes to the Philippians. And

he tells them right there from the same prison

that he wrote Colossians. And he tells these

guys from the city of Philippi what's going on

right there in Rome. And what we discover is

not pretty. I want you to know, my dear brothers

and sisters, that everything that has happened

to me here has helped to spread the good news.

I know I was not hoping. When I started following

Jesus, I was going to end up in prison for so

many years. This was not part of my plan. But

I can tell you that God has been using this experience

as a platform so that the gospel is being proclaimed.

Everyone here, including the whole palace guard,

knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

All these guards, they are now trying to avoid

me because every time they talk to me, it's like

I want to tell them about Jesus. All of them

know that I'm here because I'm a follower of

Jesus. And because of my imprisonment, most of

the believers here have gained confidence and

boldly speak God's message without fear. Some

of these guys that are following Jesus have seen

me in prison and now they're thinking, wow, if

Paul can be preaching the gospel, And leading

people to Christ. While he has lost his freedom.

I am free. I have freedom. I am going to start

sharing the gospel too. And they feel inspired

to lead. They feel inspired to impact the world

with God's word. That's great. But look at what

happens next. It is true. That some are preaching

out of jealousy and rivalry. What? Did I read?

It is true that some are preaching out of jealousy

and rivalry. Really? Yeah. Some people have weird

motives. They're doing all these good things,

you know, but their motive is completely wrong.

And they preach because they have these desires

for rivalry with me. But others preach about

Christ with pure motives. And they preach because

they love me. For they know I have been appointed

to defend the good news. They know who I am.

They respect me. And we have this relationship

with these other people. Those others do not

have pure motives. And they preach about Christ.

But they preach with selfish ambition. Not sincerely.

Intending to make my chains more painful to me.

Really? That happens in the church? That happens

among missionaries? People that are proclaiming

the gospel, taking it to the world, they play

politics? And they can use the pulpit so I can

hurt your ministry? Oh, I just want to throw

up now. And they're doing that to cause you pain?

Wow. So what are you going to do about that,

Paul? Well, it doesn't really matter. Whatever

their motives are, false or genuine, the message

about Christ is being preached. Either way, so

I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. That

is a mature following of Jesus speaking. When

you are serving God and you have this calling,

you will face those moments in which people are

going to have the wrong motives, play politics,

and they drain you. That's why when he says at

the end of the Colossians letter. Hey I have

these other people with me. And they are working

here with me. For the kingdom of God. And what

a comfort they have been. Yeah. Because to find

people. That you share the same heartbeat for

the kingdom of God. That you are really there

because you love Jesus. Not out of selfish ambition.

To be able to work with people like that. Wow.

That is such an encouragement because that is

rare. When you have all these other people with

selfish ambition and jealousy and envy and competition

and all of them are trying to follow Jesus and

work together, it's just like a pain. It's hard.

It's draining. And at that moment, Archippus,

you are going to feel tempted to say, you know,

I'm done. This is too hard. Make sure, Archippus,

that you remain faithful to the calling that

God has given you. Because He is the one that

placed you there. Not these people. So you have

to learn to have thick skin. Let them preach

Christ for the wrong motives. But it doesn't

matter. Because I'm not here for them. I'm here

for the one who called me. And I'm going to remain

faithful to His calling. And you will have to

go through that. And it will be tough. But when

the Lord blesses you with a dream team, ah, you

will be so blessed. The Apostle Paul had to make

a choice. Would he let the ulterior motives and

the politics around him make his life more miserable?

Or? Would he let God's grace and his peace flow

through him into that space? That's a choice

that you and I have to make. Because you will

be tempted to quit when it gets tough. But if

it is true that you are there because God called

you to be there, and you are positioned there

because God positioned you to be there, you will

have to start asking a whole different question.

The question is not, do I enjoy these people?

No. The question is, God, do you call me to be

here? Because if so, would you let your grace

and peace flow through me into this space? Because

the political game is getting very strong. At

the end of the day, it doesn't matter. What matters

is I remain faithful to God's calling. The second

challenge that he had to overcome, as he followed

the Lord and as he became a mature believer and

a team that he could be blessed with, they had

to overcome the ethnic divisions. Because, Archippus,

I know you are a Gentile. I know you're leading

this church in Colossae that are mostly Gentiles,

but yeah, you also got these Jews that started

coming saying, you're not good enough, you're

a Gentile after all, so you also need to become

a Jew to really be saved. I have to tell you,

there are some people that will look at you and

they will see you as a category. They will see

you as not good enough for the job because they

cannot really see you. They don't see the person

you are. They see what you represent, shaped

by all the prejudices. And you want me to tell

you how this whole thing even began? I mean,

from the very beginning, this whole thing of

prejudice in the kingdom of God and the teams

that God established has always been a struggle.

Because, you know, You might imagine that when

the Apostle Peter, my friend, preached the gospel

for the first time, you remember 3 ,000 people

came to know Christ? You could imagine that was

heaven on earth, but it was nothing like heaven

on earth. It was the Holy Spirit on earth, but

not heaven yet. We had conflicts and things.

In fact, the Apostle Peter... Was sent by God

to this town. To preach the gospel to this family.

And they were Romans. Not Jews. They were Gentiles.

And an angel had to appear to him. To send him

in there. So he arrived to this place. Preaches

the gospel to this Roman family. And they all

come to know Christ. So now people started hearing

about what had happened. So the apostle Peter

goes to Jerusalem. And now as he arrives to Jerusalem.

Before he can say anything. People started like.

Looking at him with this judgmental attitude

and asking him these questions, it wasn't pretty.

Soon the news reached the apostles and other

believers in Judea that the Gentiles, can you

believe it? Gentiles had received the word of

God. Those people. But when Peter arrived back

in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized

him. And they said to him, Peter, did I hear

correctly? That you enter the home of those Gentiles.

And you even. Did you even eat with them? I can't

even picture that. I mean the very mentioning

makes me just have nausea. Those people. Archippus.

That's how the gospel of Jesus started reaching

us. And then I had to go to that council later.

And we had debates about whether the Gentiles

were also part of the kingdom or not. And whether

these churches were also legit churches or not.

And whether Gentiles had to become Jews or not.

I mean, I was in the middle of that beginning.

You have a good if you just knew where I was

at the beginning. So that's why. When I started

preaching the gospel and I met Timothy, oh, Timothy,

he was a nice guy. He loved the Lord. He knew

the word. He came from a home where his grandmother

taught him the scriptures since young. And God

started putting in my heart that I needed to

invite this Timothy to work with me. So I approached

Timothy in one of these trips and said, Timothy,

I have a proposition for you. Would you like

to join me in my ministry and travel with me

as we share the gospel in all these places in

the Roman Empire? It's a great, great opportunity.

But Paul knew there's a problem. You see, Timothy's

mother was a Jew, but his father was a Greek.

We meant something. It meant that Timothy was

not circumcised. And that's going to be a problem

because if I take him with me and we meet some

Jews and say, what's your last name? It's like,

hey, that sounds Greek. Is your father a Greek?

Yeah. So are you circumcised? Are you one of

us? If those things start happening, it's going

to create so much trouble with this whole ethnic

tension. So, Timothy, I want you to pray about

this. Find out. You want to join me? But if you

do, here's the deal. We'll have to go through

surgery first. And that's what he says. Timothy

was well thought out by the believers in Lystra

and Iconium. So Paul wanted him to join them

on the journey. In defense to their Jew of the

area, he arranged. In deference to the Jews of

the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised

before they left, for everyone knew that his

father was a Greek. Can you see the level of

ethnic tensions that they had from the very beginning

to the point that he had to even make sure that

this Timothy had it all right? So when he writes

at the end of Colossians, and he says, you know,

Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus is the one called Justice,

these are the only Jewish believers among my

co -workers. That's a lot. You have three Jewish

Christians that have endorsed God's vision for

the Gentile inclusion into the kingdom, and they've

been preaching the gospel with you. Wow, way

to go, Paul. All the Jews that are here in Colossae

that are coming to our church keep telling us

you have to be circumcised before we can become

truly saved. And I'm so glad you sent me this

letter because now I understand the theology

of it. Jesus is enough. Wow. But Archippus, don't

let the prejudice of others keep you from following

God's calling. You are not there for them. They

cannot see you for who you are, but the one who

calls you knows you. So what are you going to

do? Are you going to let God's grace and peace

flow through you into that space to overcome

those tensions? Because there are moments in

which God will place you in leadership roles

in which people will not respect you at the beginning

because they see you as a category. Well, you're

a woman. And women don't lead in my place, in

my company, in my ministry. You're from that

country, and now they entrusted you to lead this

mission? It's like, I'm not sure I can trust

people from your country. They're not honest.

They steal money. So do we have people checking

the finances here apart from you? And you have

all these conversations that are going on in

all of these places. And you are there thinking,

they see me as a category. They hear my accent

and they think that I'm not trustworthy. What

are you going to do? Archippus, remain faithful

to the calling that God has given you because

you are not a category. You are a servant of

the most high God. And he positioned you there.

And until he removes you from there, guess what?

You stick to it. And when his grace and his peace

flows through you, let those people realize that

they were wrong all along. And the year will

come, they will look at you with respect. And

some may tell you, you know what, when you started

this responsibility, this is what I thought of

you, but I was so wrong. To get to that place

takes effort. But more than that, it takes God's

grace and peace flowing through you into that

team. And that's why the third challenge is going

to be very important. But I added these books

here for you because if you are serving in a

multicultural team or you are married in a multicultural

marriage, any team is already challenging to

work together. But you add the multicultural

element to it and it becomes so complex. So complex

that there are books, seminars you can go to.

College, you can get master's degrees in all

this topic. You know what we call it in the academia?

We call it cultural intelligence, CI. You need

to grow in cultural intelligence so that you

know how to work with multicultural teams. And

these two books are very helpful. The Culture

Map is one of them. It's not a Christian book

per se, but it's just an amazing book. I read

it, recommended it, I listened to it, I laughed

through it from the experiences that it shares.

The other one is leading multicultural teams

that was written by this couple who served in

ministry in missions for many years and did an

excellent summary of anthropological studies

on culture and they put it together. So if this

is an area in which you are struggling or serving

and you realize, I need to understand a little

bit more of this, these are two books that I

would highly recommend. But after saying that,

The third challenge they're going to face is

not one of cultural differences and ethnic tensions.

It's going to be one of unsolved tensions. And

this perhaps is one of the most common reasons

why people end up being so discouraged that they

end up quitting and not pursuing God's calling

altogether. And the Apostle Paul had to experience

it. He mentions at the end of Colossians this

guy called Mark. Hey, Mark. If he goes to visit,

you make sure you welcome him. When he's mentioned

in this name, this is fast forward several years,

but at the beginning when we encounter Mark in

relationship to the Apostle Paul's ministry,

what you find out is that when the Apostle Paul

started his ministry, taking the gospel to the

world, and he started working in team, his first

team was Barnabas. And Barnabas and Paul started

sharing the gospel together. They were in Antioch,

serving together at that church. And now they're

going to go and start traveling the world and

taking the gospel to places. And as they're doing

that, Barnabas has a great idea. He has a cousin.

His name is Mark. He's a young guy, but he loves

the Lord. He's a nice person. He could be so

useful. So let's take him with us. So they did.

They decided, okay, let's meet together. Let's

plan our mission trips that we're going to do.

We're going to go this way, all of that. This

is what you need to do. This is what you need

to do. And they had the whole plan ready to execute.

And they started executing it. Except that in

the middle of executing it, this little guy,

Mark, Barnabas' cousin, Says, you know what?

I don't like this anymore. This is not what I

expected. I'm just not going to go back home.

It's like, what? You can't leave us now. I mean,

you should have thought about all this before,

but now in the middle of it? Yeah, you know.

It's like, I don't like their food. It's too

spicy. You know, over there, it's just too hot.

I like AC. This is just not me. This is not what

I expected. So Mark quit. And he left them in

the middle of everything. So now later they come

back, they finish that trip, and they're planning

another trip, and Barnabas says, hey, why don't

we bring Mark this time? Barnabas agreed and

wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul disagreed

strongly. That's to put it nicely. Since John

Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not

continued with them in their work. Did you hear

the word deserted them? Yeah. That's how it felt.

Wow. So their disagreement was so sharp that

they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with

him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas.

And as he left, the believers entrusted him to

the Lord's gracious care. That's how Paul and

Mark began working together. And at that moment,

it was so clear that Paul says, you know what,

I cannot trust this type of people. It's like,

bear me once, bear me twice. No, I don't think

so. But what God will start doing in the life

of the Apostle Paul is that the Holy Spirit is

going to start prompting him. His grace and his

peace has to flow through him into the slave

of this guy. Because, yeah, he made mistakes

because he was immature. But he's growing up.

He needs new opportunities. He will mature. You

can work with him. And eventually, he started

reconnecting with Mark. To the point that now

that he's at the end of Colossians, he says,

Mark. Is here with me. Barnabas is cousin. And

as you were instructed before. Make Mark welcome.

If he comes your way. He's a good guy. A blessing.

And did you know. Paul did not know at the beginning.

Little Mark. The immature one. Was going to become

the author. Of the gospel of Mark. How do you

like that? The gospel that you read about the

life of Jesus was written by this leader that

was able to grow into maturity because God's

grace and his peace gave him opportunities to

learn from his immaturity, his mistakes, and

he grew into a leader shaped by a mentor called

Paul. Yeah. But there's something that the Apostle

Paul does not know yet. One of the guys that

he trusts there, his name is Demas. Demas is

there with him, but something is going to happen

that's going to create a tension that is so deep

and sorrowful. And he will write about this later

to the last letter that he wrote to 2 Timothy.

This is the last letter that he ever wrote before

he died, after the Colossians. And now we know

what happened. He says, Timothy, please come

as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me. Because

he loves the things of this life, he has gone

to Thessalonica, which is in Greece. Crescens

has gone to Galatia. Titus has gone to Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me now. Yeah, the doctor, the

friend, who also will become the author of the

Gospel of Luke. But he's in a place of loneliness.

He will say in another letter, everybody deserted

me. Only Luke is with me now. It feels lonely.

It feels kind of sad. Because I never saw it

coming from Demas. I trusted him. I mean, if

you would have seen what I wrote to the Colossians

at the end, Demas, you know, I even mentioned

his name as one of my dream team here with me.

In a lifetime, in a thousand, in a million years,

I could not have imagined that Demas would betray

me this way. What are you going to do? When people

betray you, when you are in that space of tension

where there's no compromise, it's like, my way,

not my way, not mine, what are you going to do?

Are you going to use that as an excuse to say,

I'm done with this, I cannot do this anymore

because it's too hard? Or are you going to let

God's grace and His peace flow through you into

those relationships so that You can remain faithful

to the calling that God has given you. Not them,

but God. And perhaps this place is the hardest

of all. When I got ordained as a pastor, it's

been like, what, 20 years ago now. When I got

ordained as a pastor, I remember it was a very

detailed process. I had to write all my doctrinal

statements. It was like a big dissertation like

this. All these questions you have to answer

about everything. Because they want to measure

whether you understand the scriptures, whether

you have mature theology, whether you can engage

defending the faith or not. So I had to write

all this stuff. Then you submit it to a board.

And then all this board meets with you and you

are there sitting and they start bombarding you

with all these questions. What about this? What

about that? What does the Bible say about this?

What is your argument about this? If somebody

says this, how would you counteract that argument?

What is your biblical foundation for this? You

know, it's like several hours of that. And then

after serving with the church for two years and

passing the theological examination, then you

get ordained and now we can trust you. You have

the biblical theology down. You have led. We

can see your character. We trust you. Ordain.

There. But there was one question during the

theological examination I had not prepared for.

And it wasn't about theology. One of the pastors

asked me, Pablo, what are you going to do when

you have someone in your team that stops you

in the back? I mean, at least I knew my theology,

so I gave the right answer. Well, it's like God

says you need to forgive everybody, you know,

77, you know, all that, you know, and therefore,

yeah, that's what you need to do. Easier said

than done. I had headaches throughout the years,

and sometimes people see you as a headache too.

But in teamwork, I've experienced many things.

But only one time, in my entire journey of serving

the Lord, I was stabbed in the back. By someone

in my team. And I can tell you, I was not prepared

for it. It was so hard. a combination of feeling

sad, betrayed, angry, very disorienting space.

And I remember saying to my wife, like, I feel

like my soul, my soul is bruised. And I had never

found myself there. And it took me several weeks

to process it, and it's just like, The peace

of God had been compromised. I was not experiencing

peace. I was experiencing pain. I felt betrayed.

I felt blindsided. I felt it's like... And I

remember having to go into time alone with the

Lord. And the anger coming out in my prayer.

And all of these things being released. Until

I finally was able to say to the Lord, I forgive.

And at that moment, the grace and peace started

flowing again. And now, my soul was in a better

place. And I could see that person again later

in my life. I have no bitterness. I could greet

that person. I could hug that person. I could

do anything. It was no longer shaped by the betrayal

and the stabbing. We have to make a choice. Are

we going to be faithful to God's calling until

the very end? Or are we going to let the complexities

of working with people deter us from God's calling?

And the choice is for you and for me. Not for

the Lord to make, but for us to make. And the

reality of all of these things is that the wrong

motives are going to be there. But not in my

heart. I can control other people's motives,

but cannot control their motives, but I can control

mine. And let my motive be only love for Jesus

and faithfulness to his calling. The reality

is that there will be ethnic divisions, but let

my attitude be that I will never let other people's

opinions define who I am, only the one who created

me and calling me to serve him. And I'm going

to expect it. but I'm going to let it deter me

from following the calling God gave me. It is

true that there's going to be unsolved tensions,

but let those tensions be an opportunity for

grace, for learning, for growing from a mark

that makes mistakes to a mark that becomes the

author of a gospel. Let these spaces be spaces

for growth, not for division. That's why the

Apostle Paul writes, To the Ephesians, these

words as a mature follower, a mature leader.

And he says this to us. As a prisoner of serving

the Lord, I'm going to beg you to do something.

I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling.

For you have been called by God. Not by the company.

Not by the mission board. Not by those elders.

You have been called by God and positioned by

God. He is the one that you serve. So live according

to that high calling. For you have been called

by Him. So therefore always be humble. Always

be gentle. Even when everything within you wants

to be prideful and hurtful. Be patient with each

other. Making allowance for each other's faults.

Because those faults will happen. And they will

come. But be patient. Expect it. Because of your

love. Your love for the Lord. Your love for the

calling. And therefore, that love that is flowing

from you into your team. Let that love be the

one that propels you forward. Know this challenge

is the one that deters you and causes you to

move backwards. So, do you have the right motive?

Are you navigating that space properly and letting

the grace and peace of God flow through you into

the team? Are you engaging with the prejudice

that you are facing? Letting God's grace and

peace flow through you? Are you engaging with

those team tensions and the complexities of it

by letting God's grace and peace flow through

you? What kind of leader are you becoming? Let

it be true that we only become leaders that are

characterized by the grace and peace of God flowing

through us. And it is our very presence. And

the very wisdom of God flowing through us that

becomes a transformative presence in our teams.

Read with me this section that is highlighted

for us. Because this is God's word for you here

and today. Be sure to carry out the ministry

the Lord gave you. And Lord, yes, we stand in

your presence. Bruised. Scarred. Wounded. Tired.

Exhausted. Disoriented. And all of the above.

But does that really matter? If your calling

is clear. If your calling is true. If you have

called us for this very thing and for this very

season. Lord, we don't want to quit. We want

to be obedient. So if the enemy is using anything,

Lord, in our teams to discourage us, to deter

us, let that voice be silenced today in your

presence. And Holy Spirit, let your voice be

the one that propels us forward. That reminds

us that we are here for a higher calling. And

that it's you who we serve. And no other until

our last breath. In Jesus' name. Thank you for

tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether

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And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.