37 ”A Capable Savior for Fallible Sinners” Acts 15:36-41 | Sunday, January 18, 2026

We'll go to Acts chapter 15. Last week,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

we introduced our theme for this year

from Matthew 25:21, which is well done.

Matthew 25:21

And so, we're looking forward to

exploring different ways this year about

how we can hear well done. Now, we can

use our God-given resources to magnify

the glory of Jesus Christ. But we're

going to get back to our series this

morning in the book of Acts, chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

The end of Acts 15 is actually the start

of the second missionary journey, but it

doesn't start really how you would

expect. Starts in a way that's rather

shocking. And that is with a parting of

ways between the missionary team

Barnabas and Paul. And so let's read

about that in Acts chapter 15 beginning

Acts 15 · chapter mention

in verse 36.

And some days after Paul said unto

Barnabas, "Let us go again and visit our

brethren in every city where we have

preached the word of the Lord and see

how they do." And Barnabas determined to

take with them John, whose surname was

Mark. But Paul thought not good to take

him with them who departed from them in

from Panilia and went not with them to

the work. And the contention was so

sharp between them that they departed

aunderder one from the other. And so

Barnabas took Mark and sailed unto

Cyprus. And Paul chose Silas and

departed being recommended by the

brethren unto the grace of God. And he

went through Syria and Cissia confirming

the churches. And then chapters 16

through chapter 18 will detail Paul's

second missionary journey. And really

the rest of the book of Acts is going to

uh it's going to follow Paul's

missionary journeys. And we won't hear

from Barnabas again. That's not to say

that Barnabas was in the wrong here.

This is just the track that Luke has

taken to show Theophilus how the gospel

got to Rome. And it helps to explain why

Paul and Barnabas were not together

anymore once Paul got to Rome.

But what we see here in this text

is that even the greatest of godly men

can have disagreements

and have even failures.

There's no way around it. It doesn't

tell us who is wrong. And I think that's

to show us that everyone was wrong.

Mark had failed.

Paul wouldn't give him a second chance.

Barnabas couldn't come to an agreement.

and you just see failure all around

here. Nevertheless,

what happens in chapter 16 is the work

goes on and more souls are saved and

more churches are planted. And so I want

to preach to you with God's help this

morning a sermon entitled a capable

savior for fallen sinners. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your

word and I pray that you would help us

to glean the truth that you have for us

today. I believe that it will be a help

to us to have a more well-rounded

perspective

on the expansion of your kingdom and the

planting of churches and the growth of

the gospel. And so I pray that you would

help us to embrace the truth and to see

that Christ is able to do far more than

what we can do. I pray this in Jesus

name. Amen. Thank you for standing and

honor God's word. You can be seated.

Tomorrow night, the Indiana Hooers will

take on the Miami Hurricanes for the

College Football National Championship.

Miami is a storied program that's always

been highly competitive and has always

been after the top recruits and has

always been able to secure the top

recruits in college football. They've

won five national titles in their

history, even though it's been a good

while since the last one. Indiana,

however, is a completely different

story. From 1995 to 2023,

they average less than four wins per

season. That's pretty terrible track

record, right? In fact, from 2021 to

2023, they win a combined nine wins and

27 losses. It's a lot of losing. Not as

much as Colorado, but it's a lot of

losing.

And so that difficult track there, 2021

to 2023, prompted a coaching change

where Indiana hired their current coach,

Curt Signetti, from James Madison

University.

And uh in his first year last year, he

took Indiana from a 3-9 record to 11-2

in one of the greatest turnarounds in

college football history. This year, he

has the Hooers at 15-0 in one day and

one win away from a national title. In

fact, the first 16-0 national title in

college football history. Kurt Signetti

is being credited with one of the

greatest coaching jobs in history

primarily because of what he has been

able to accomplish with a bunch of lower

tier recruits.

To for comparison's sake, Miami has more

than five five-star blue chip recruits

and more than 30 fourstar recruits as

well. Whereas signetti hooers have zero

five-star recruits and only four

four-star recruits. And yet he brought

them from three and n to 15 and0 on the

brink of history in merely two seasons.

It's remarkable. And so signetti's

greatness is seen in what he has

accomplished with less talented, less

valued prospects. players that other

coaches didn't see as worthy of being

recruited, worthy of being paid or

worthy of a spot on the field. That is

where Signetti's greatness is found. In

a similar way, the greatness of Jesus

Christ is seen as what in what he is

able to do not through talented, sinless

creatures,

but through broken, weak, infallible

sinners.

Think about the apostles.

Fisherman,

average occupation of the day, a tax

collector, a political revolutionist.

Two brothers, James and John, who were

craving power to sit at Christ's right

hand.

You have Thomas, of course, who said, "I

will not believe unless I put my fingers

through the hole in his hands. I will

not believe he is risen."

Peter denied Jesus three times.

Think about the book of Acts.

Saul of Tarsus, a killer of Christians,

has been redeemed into a preacher of the

gospel and a great one at that.

In our text, we see how Christ worked

through Mark.

Mark was a fallible young man.

In the Gospel according to Mark, at the

very end, he mentions a young man, and

he's the only gospel writer to mention a

young man who fled away naked from the

Garden of Gethsemane.

Most believe that that was Mark himself.

He was privy to that uh wisdom and

knowledge.

Mark abandoned Paul and Barnabas in the

gospel ministry.

And yet we see that he wrote the Gospel

of Mark. We see that he eventually

becomes profitable in the ministry. We

see Paul and Barnabas in spite of their

sharp disagreement and their inability

to come together in ministry. Yet we

find that through both of their

ministries, churches were strengthened,

souls were one to Christ, churches were

planted, the work simply went on. And so

the greatness of Christ is not seen in

the way that he uses perfect people.

It's seen in the way that he uses

fallible people. People who are able to

fail and able to fall. Well, that gives

you and me hope today because we all

recognize that we too can fail. We're

all fallible. None of us are perfect.

We may experience tremendous failures in

our own spiritual lives. Or maybe that

we read about the moral failures of

prominent Christian voices on social

media or Christianity today. And of

course on CNN when a Christian fails,

that'll be on the front page of the

news.

We still have disagreements over

personalities, preachers, Bible

colleges, and seminaries. We have

doctrinal differences, church splits,

and denominational divides. When you

really think about it, we wonder how in

the world the church gets anything done

when it involves such fallable people.

We wonder how God could possibly use my

life when I know how I fail.

This text teaches us this fundamental

truth that the capability of Christ is

greater than the fallibility of man.

But don't take my word for it. Let's see

it together in this text. First thing I

want us to understand is that man's

fallible nature will lead to failure.

The fact that we are able to fall and

able to fail means that we will without

doubt fail because we're sinners.

The first thing I want to point out

before we even start going through the

text is what happened with Mark. Mark

failed to continue with Paul and

Barnabas in their first journey. You

might remember that Mark, according to

other uh writings in the New Testament,

Mark was actually Barnabas's nephew.

They were family. It was his sister's

son. He was commissioned to go with Paul

and Barnabas as a servant, a minister,

just to aid and help them in the

ministry when they went on their first

missionary journey from Antioch into the

region of Cyprus and Galatia. And so he

sailed with him to Cyprus where they

preached in a synagogue at Salamus and

and saw some Jews come to Christ and

then they moved on to Pos and they

encountered Elimus the sorcerer and yet

the Roman senator deputy there Sergius

Pace came to faith in Christ. The

implication is that that we're just

getting the highlights in the book of

Acts but there were other churches

planted there on Cyprus as well. They

then sailed across the sea from Cyprus

to the southern coast of Asia Minor,

modern-day Turkey, to a place called

Perga in Pampilia. And there it says

that John departed or Mark departed from

them. But the word depart, it doesn't

just mean that he he left them. It it's

a strong word that carries the idea that

he abandoned them, that he deserted them

in the ministry.

He failed in his responsibility for

which the church sent him with Paul and

Barnabas.

We can speculate all we want about why

he left. Many suggest it was because of

the difficulty of the journey and the

opposition that they were facing. Others

suggest that it was because Paul took on

more of a prominent ministry role. I

don't believe that that's the case

because at Lististra it says that that

they called um Barnabas Mercurius

because he was the chief speaker. And so

the evidence is there that Barnabas was

still doing the predominant uh role of

of teaching and preaching in their

ministry. The reality is is Luke doesn't

tell us why he abandoned them. He simply

tells us that he abandoned them. Why

would he do that? because it doesn't

matter why. It matters that you're

faithful. And what it shows us is that

Mark failed in his faithfulness. He did

not continue with them in the work.

Well, what we see in verse 36, it says,

"And some days after Paul said unto

Barnabas, let us go again to visit our

brethren in every city where we have

preached the word of the Lord and see

how they do." And so Paul wants to

retrace their steps and go back into

Cyprus and into Galatia and check in on

these churches. But we also have to keep

in the back of our minds that in chapter

15 they were given letters from the

church of Jerusalem, the apostles and

elders to take to the Gentile churches

to show them that circumcision was

unnecessary for the Gentiles and keeping

the law was unnecessary for the

Gentiles. That they they were accepted

into God's people by grace alone through

faith alone in Jesus alone. And so

they're going to deliver those letters

in that region as well and just

encourage these churches along the way.

That was Paul's mission. So he invites

Barnabas along and it says in verse 37,

"And Barnabas determined to take with

them John whose surname was Mark." He

was resolved. The idea is that he he was

firm in his stance on this that he had

made up his mind that he told Paul,

"We're taking Mark with us.

Why would he do that when his nephew had

had failed? Well, Barnabas trusted that

it wasn't going to to happen again. He

was ready to give Mark a second chance

because that's the kind of man that

Barnabas has been in the book of Acts, a

bridge builder. Remember, when no one in

the church would accept Saul of Tarsus

after his conversion, it was Barnabas

who bridged the gap between him and and

brought Paul into the church in his

early days. It was Barnabas that the

church of Jerusalem sent up to Antioch

to disciple and teach and exhort the new

believers there. And when it got to be

too much, he went to Cissia and he

tracked down Saul and brought Saul to

Antioch and and they taught together

there for a year. And then now they've

gone on this missionary journey and

they've experienced pain and suffering

and yet the glory of preaching the

gospel, bringing people to Christ and

planting churches. Paul and Barnabas

have been arm in- arm and hand in hand

in ministry. And Barnabas was an

exhorter and an encourager. And here he

is ready to give his nephew a second

chance.

But in a shocking twist,

Paul was not. It says in verse 38, "But

Paul thought not good to take him with

them."

The word thought not good. The idea is

really that he did not consider him

worthy of going with them. Think about

that if you're Mark for a second. The

Apostle Paul has branded you unworthy of

ministry.

Yes, the Apostle Paul who is guilty of

murdering and executing countless

Christians. He has deemed you unworthy

of going forward in the ministry because

you turned back one time. It's a

shocking reversal here. This is the same

Paul who preached the gospel of Jesus

Christ who who preached the redeeming

grace of Jesus Christ. And yet here he

is unwilling to give Mark a second

chance. Why? Mark failed.

He but even in dealing with Mark's

failure, we find a failure in both Paul

and Barnabas. Paul was unwilling to give

Mark a second chance and it resulted in

a failed relationship.

It says that that Paul didn't think it

was good for him to go because he

departed from them in Panilia and went

not with them to the work. He had not

proven himself faithful. And and if

you're going to be a steward of the

gospel, you have to be faithful is what

the apo apostle Paul teaches in 1

Corinthians uh uh chapter uh five, I

believe it is. You got to be faithful.

But notice in verse 39

says the contention

was so sharp between them that they

departed aunderder

one from the other.

The word departed aunderder is the word

that they use for divorce.

That it means to split apart. It means

to separate. See, uh what we've seen

here in the book of acts is that the

relationship between Paul and Barnabas

has been like a match made in heaven.

And yet what we find here is that this

match made in heaven is experiencing a

rather ugly divorce.

not over doctrine,

not over apostasy, but over ministry

partnership.

They said we can't go forward like this.

And so they separated from each other.

This passage passage

has a jarring effect on us, doesn't it?

You wonder how could this be? How could

they not work it out? How could they not

figure it out? And the simple reason is

this. They were fallible.

As great of men as Barnabas and Paul

were, they were able to fail. And this

is certainly a failure.

It's a failure to agree. It's a failure

to give a second chance. It's a failure

in putting family above ministry, even

on Barnabas's part.

And so, you've got fallibility going all

around.

See, because we have a fallible nature,

friends, we will experience failure.

It could be a personal failure like

Markx that maybe one time in your life

you were faithfully involved in church,

but for one reason or another, you went

backward. That maybe you were there for

uh Sunday school and Sunday morning and

Sunday night and and a midweek service

and you were at every Bible study and

you were at every activity and and the

church was your life. The church was

your family. But something happened

along the way that it turned you aside

and you only came on Sundays anymore and

then eventually you just stopped going

to church period. You stopped reading

your Bible. You can look at your life

and and just say that that things got

too hard. It got too heavy and I just I

gave up. I was tired of fighting the

battle.

It may be that you went back into the

world into sin. Or maybe there was a

particular sin in your life that had you

in a strangle hold. Whether it was drugs

or alcohol or pornography or it might

have been the night life that you used

to live before you got saved or the dark

world of gaming and dancing and clubbing

and those kind of things that just

sucked you back into the world away from

God. Now the people that you went to

church with a decade ago wouldn't even

recognize you as a Christian. You failed

and you knew it and so did everyone else

around you. At times you step back and

you look back at your life and you

wonder, "How did that happen? I was so

committed. I was so strong." And

sometimes as believers, you can look at

people in your own church family and you

know that they were committed and they

were all in and then something seemed to

have happened where they they stepped

back where they're no longer here with

us every Sunday or they're no longer

here anymore ever. You never hear from

them. You reach out to them but they

don't respond and we're left just

asking, "How did this happen?

The simple answer is that every one of

us are able to fail.

We're fallible.

It could be that you've seen or

experienced a failure in church

leadership.

It seems like every month right now we

are learning about some other bigname

Christian leader where whether it's in

the mainstream evangelicalism or if it's

in Baptist churches just like this

church, some big name has failed. seems

like it's happening regularly. Or it

could be someone who hurt you in your

past, a pastor, a youth pastor, or a

church member, or a friend. Or it could

even be a family member. Somebody in

your past who professed to be a

Christian hurt you. They failed morally.

They failed in ministry. And you wonder,

how could they do that? Don't Don't we

wonder? Uh, did they not think that God

would expose them?

When a ministry leader fails, you're

often left wondering, "How could someone

who studies the Bible every single day

live such an immoral double life?"

They too are fallible.

Everyone is capable of falling.

Or it might be that you wonder about the

fracture of Christian cooperation.

See, we can often be disheartened by all

the disagreements between churches and

denominations. And we question, why are

there all these different splits and all

different kinds of of groups and

churches? Why independent Baptist and

Southern Baptist and American Baptist

and Presbyterian and Lutheran? And why

can't we just be non-denominational?

Let's just be a Bible church. Why do we

got to have all of these different

divisions? Shouldn't we just be

Christian?

Well, it seems like churches will fight

over everything.

Dress, music, translations, end times.

They might split over Bible colleges,

seminaries, or bigname preachers and

personalities. Why does that happen? It

is because we are fallible.

Everyone thinks they have a corner on

truth.

That our group knows what the Bible is

really saying. And then you'll have

different groups that interpret texts in

different ways. And here's what happens.

Sometimes those disagreements can be so

sharp that we can't continue in

cooperation.

The differences are too deep. It would

cause too much infighting and there

wouldn't be the kind of unity within the

church that Jesus Christ called his

disciples to. Why? Because we can't

agree on when the rapture is and we

can't agree on how baptism should be

done. And we can't agree on whether or

not the sign gifts are done and which

Bible translation to use. And we can

have all these differences and our

opinions and our thoughts. And we all

think we are right. That's why we are

Baptists because we have everything

right.

So also would everybody else say right.

But that's why there are so many

different circles, groups, and

denominations.

They can't all be right. And it can come

to a point where because of division in

the church and because of you know

having you might have certain speakers

who come and they they speak from God's

word an interpretation of a text that

your church fundamentally disagrees with

in their doctrine and that can cause

confusion and mixed messages and

especially for new believers. And so

that's why churches stake out either

some kind of creed or church covenant

and doctrinal statement is to say this

is what we believe the Bible teaches and

we are unified together and we are going

forward in this together.

But because not everyone believes the

same. There can be division, there can

be separation. But listen, these

fractures,

splits, or divorces, so to speak, can

often leave us wondering how the work of

Christ will ever continue, how his

kingdom can keep expanding amidst all

the division. That's really the question

that this that is posed by this text,

that now that Paul and Barnabas, this

great missionary ministry team, have

split, what is to become of Christ's

work?

And yet here's what we find.

That Christ still works. Though man

fails.

Though we are fallible, Christ is

capable.

See what we find in verse 39

is it says, "And so Barnabas took Mark

and sailed unto Cyprus."

So Barnabas and Mark form a second

missionary team. You know what that

means? Instead of one team ga uh uh

gleaning around small ground, there are

two teams gaining more ground.

Christ is able to work through this in

spite of their differences. In spite of

their disagreements, in spite of their

own failures, Christ was able to work.

He proves himself more powerful than

their fallible nature.

Because what happens is Barnabas and

Mark, they go to Cyprus and they visit

those other churches. But then after

visiting those churches, they move on

and they begin to expand ministry and

they begin to plant other churches.

About 10 years after this split, Paul

writes about uh Barnabas in first

Corinthians and he speaks honorably of

him as one who sacrificed financially

for their good. And so 10 years later,

Paul is still speaking favorably of

Barnabas even though they went their

separate ways.

Paul's later writings of Mark also

called Marcus in other places.

He writes in Colossians and Phileiman of

him as a fellow laborer. He writes of

him as having given commandments to the

church at Colasse. And so it tells us

that Mark was likely very instrumental

in establishing the church at Colasse.

Paul later calls Mark a fellow laborer.

Peter calls him a son in the faith. And

in Paul's final letter to Timothy before

he is beheaded at Rome, he tells Timothy

to bring Mark with him. For quote, "He

is profitable unto me for the ministry."

At some point, Paul acknowledged he was

wrong about Mark. At some point, Mark's

failure in his past didn't define his

success in his future.

that something was able to take place

there that restored Mark to a place of

of faithfulness. And Paul spoke highly

of Barnabas. And so you see a

reconciliation. You see that even though

they had a disagreement, there's an

acknowledgment that God continued to

work through both Barnabas and through

Mark in their ministry.

They went on to serve him. And then what

we find in verse 40, it says, "And Paul

chose Silas and departed being

recommended by the brethren of the grace

of God. and he went through Syria and

Cissia confirming the churches. And what

we're going to see in chapter 16 is that

he goes back to Derby, a place close to

Lististra where he had been stoned for

death to death and then and then was was

revived there outside of Lististra. You

remember that? And he brings another

disciple named Timothy into the

missionary team. And they go on to plant

churches in Macedonia in in Philippi and

in uh in in Thessalonica and Berea and

Corenth and Athens. And he went about

preaching the gospel. And God used Paul

and Silas and Timothy and a host of

others to do an amazing work. And it

wasn't because they were perfect because

in this text we find they were not. They

were fallible.

But their fa failures did not thwart nor

hinder Christ's work. In fact, it

continued to advance in spite of it.

Why? Because Christ's power is not bound

by our failure. It's not bound by our

failure. Christ can still work to expand

his kingdom in spite of our failures.

See, he he can redeem and restore fallen

believers just like he did with with

Mark. There may be some failures for a

pastor in particular that are

disqualifying for ministry. And yet when

that fallen minister repents and he

receives church discipline and works

through his failures with his church

family that he can be restored maybe not

to pastoral ministry but he can still be

greatly used of God to win souls for

Christ to strengthen the believers in

the church and to serve in that local

church ministry. A weward believer can

repent and turn back to God and be

restored to usefulness as well as

somebody who gave up simply because it

was too hard. That's the power of

Christ, folks. Christ can work through

different preachers and personalities to

bring souls to Christ. Not every

minister or pastor or ministry or

preacher are the same. All of them have

strengths and all of them have

weaknesses. This pastor has many

weaknesses. Why? Because we too are

fallible. Do you realize that your

pastor first of all is a church member?

That your pastor needs exhortation. Your

pastor needs accountability. your pastor

needs uh church discipline at times and

needs to be corrected if he says

something that's out of line that that

we are members together first of all and

God simply gives us different roles

pastors have weaknesses as well and yet

Christ is so powerful that he can work

through those weaknesses to fulfill his

work he can what about those fractured

relationships

all those different circles and

denominations well we may split over

certain doctrines. And because of the

practical implications, we may not be

able to work together. And yet, Christ

promised that his word would not return

void, but it would accomplish the

purpose for which he sent it forth. And

so, what we can trust is this, that even

if we don't have everything lined up

with another group doctrinally, that

Christ is able to work through the

proclamation of the gospel to bring many

people to salvation. Understand that.

I'm not talking about I'm not talking

about cults. I'm not talking about Hindu

religions and and Islam and and

universalism and all of that. That's not

what we're talking about. What we are

talking about is the preaching of the

true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is

justification by grace alone through

faith alone in Christ alone. That is the

gospel.

We may disagree on other things, but we

can trust that Christ is going to work

through the gospel and through different

preachers and personalities and groups

to fulfill his work and to expand his

kingdom. And so what that means is that

we don't need to spend all of our time

fighting and and slandering people who

are outside the walls of this church. It

doesn't mean that doctrine doesn't

matter. It doesn't mean that we just

throw it out the window. No, it's it's

important. And we have a doctrinal

statement that we follow and we have

things from the scripture that we

believe that are different than others.

We do not baptize babies. We believe

that the sign gifts have if not ceased,

they are all but obsolete by this day

and time. And I think that just looking

around at at the vast majority of

Christianity can attest to that. But

there's also some scriptural reasons for

that. We believe in church membership.

We believe in what's called credo

baptism or believers baptism. And so

there are certain things that we believe

in and practice that other churches may

not. But it doesn't mean we need to

spend all of our time just calling out

and fighting against people who aren't

even here. I mean, who are we talking

to?

I'd rather spend my time as a pastor

edifying this church of believers and

proclaiming the truth of the gospel to

this group and what we believe from

scripture to this group. Why? So that

Christ can be glorified in your life and

so you can be edified in your Christian

faith. That's what we ought to spend our

time doing. We can trust that Christ's

power is greater than man's failures. I

believe that that's what this text is

meant to get across to us.

That even though Mark failed and even

though a ministry match made in heaven

ended in an ugly divorce, Christ's power

is so great that it just kept going on.

It shows us that simple truth that the

capability of Christ is greater than the

fallibility of man. And I want you to

know today that that includes your

greatest failures.

It might be that you literally have a

failed marriage. That maybe you married

too young or too quick or maybe the

relationship became toxic or even

abusive. And now that your family is

split, your kids are torn between two

homes. Perhaps they live without a

father figure in their life. And

everything is so hard and so

complicated. And you know that and and

understand this in any failed marriage,

there's plenty of blame to go around.

It's very rarely ever just one person's

fault. And you know that in your own

heart, even if it was an abusive

relationship, even if it was toxic,

there are probably things you know that

you could have done better.

But what you know is that your marriage

perhaps was your greatest failure. I

want you to know today that Christ is

more powerful than your failed marriage.

Christ is more powerful

than than any problem, any failure in

your life. He's still able to use you as

a single mom or single dad to do great

things for the kingdom of Christ. He's

able to use you to teach the Bible to

kids, to minister in congregational

music. He can use your testimony to

encourage a young married couple perhaps

even on what not to do.

He's able to be, listen, God is able to

be the father that your child never had

in their lives.

He adopts us into his family. He calls

us his own. He cares for our needs. And

he's able to give you the strength to be

a great example of a godly mom if you'll

just follow him.

It may be that for you, you've spent

most of your adult life

addicted or bound by substance abuse.

You've tried therapy. You've tried

rehab. You you're at your wits end and

you're thinking, "Man, I I've I've

failed at this." And that failure is

absolute. That's just how you feel right

now. You're done. You're not going

anywhere.

You've tried everything except a life

fully surrendered to Jesus Christ. And I

want to encourage you today to try

Jesus,

to fully surrender your life to him.

Because I want you to know that he has

the power to redeem your life in such a

way that you who right now feel

hopeless, that feel like you're an

addict and you're going to be stuck that

way forever. He's able to redeem your

life to where you are five years later

leading an addictions ministry, helping

hopeless people get free just like you

were not free back then, just like

Christ freed you before. That's what

Christ is able to do in your life.

That's his power. I have a friend in

Stillwater, Oklahoma. His name's Larry.

He grew up in that church, a very solid

Bible preaching church. His parents were

godly parents in the church as well and

he spent his whole life there. And when

he got into his 20s, he started getting

into drugs and alcohol and those things

led him eventually to jail. But it was

in jail where he came to the Lord. And

when he got out, God began to change his

life and reform him because he fully

surrendered to Christ. And now for I

believe the last 10 years, Larry has

been serving in that church as the uh

addictions minister. And every single

week he's meeting with people that are

bound by alcohol and bound by drugs,

people with a criminal history. And he

is now leading them through the

scriptures to get free just like Christ

set him free. That's the power of Jesus

Christ.

>> In that very same church, there was a

man who had committed murder decades

ago. When he was in jail, he trusted

Christ as his savior.

He was forgiven in heaven, but he still

had a sentence to serve.

And after he served his sentence, he got

out. He started going to church. And God

began to transform his life. He ended up

marrying the lady that led him to Christ

in the jail ministry. And now he and his

wife serve on staff at that same church

in in Stillwater, Oklahoma. And he

preaches the gospel. And at the men's

advance they host there every a April.

He's up there preaching to men about how

to lead your family and how to walk in

God's way. And God's completely

transformed his life. I'm telling you,

no matter what your failure is, Christ's

power is greater than it if you'll just

fully surrender your life to him.

He's able.

So whether it's a marriage failure, a

legal failure, a moral failure, or a

ministry failure, the capability of

Christ is greater than the fallibility

of man.

Let me give you a final word of hope

here.

Christ is capable of ending failure once

and for all.

See, his death on the cross made

redemption

possible. He shed his blood on the cross

to atone for every failure that you've

ever had. No matter how big it may be,

no matter how small it may be. And after

his death, he was buried in a tomb. And

three days later, he rose from the dead,

proving that he is able to give life to

any and all who will believe on him.

When you trust Christ as your savior,

your sins are all forgiven.

They're removed from you as we read this

morning. As far as the east is from the

west, so far hath he removed our sins

from us. He does not deal when you trust

Christ as your savior. As we read this

morning, he does not deal with you

according to your sins. He pardons you.

He gives you the promise of eternal

life. And listen, friend, when Christ

returns, all who have believed in him

will be raised from the dead. And we who

are alive and remain shall be caught up

in the clouds to forever be with the

Lord. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 15,

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Paul describes that at that time, he

says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of

an eye, at the last trump, we shall be

changed."

The word metamorphosis,

that our our physical bodies are going

to be morphed into something that is

altogether different. And what Paul

calls it is an incorruptible body. A

body that is no longer affected by sin,

suffering, death, or failure.

That's what awaits you, friend.

Then we will all know the truth.

There will be no more church splits, no

doctrinal divisions, no denominational

lines. Rather, all who have believed

will be finally relieved of all failures

and all disagreements. And we're going

to come together finally as one perfect

sinless church in Christ. And we will

serve together and we will worship

together. And we will reign together

with Christ forever. That is his

capability. That is what is coming for

us who are fallible today.

Infallibility is coming at his return.

Christ's cap capability is greater than

our fallibility. So I want to encourage

you today that if you have failed. Bring

that failure to the cross.

Repent.

Acknowledge that what you have done is

sin.

Seek forgiveness. Be restored. And watch

how God can use your life when you fully

surrender to him.

It may be that the failures of others

have grieved your heart. Maybe they have

caused you to doubt or to to question. I

want to encourage you to bring that

grief before the Lord and bring those

questions to the Lord and trust him

knowing that he can still work in spite

of those human failures to advance his

cause in the world and in your life.

And because we're fallible creatures,

we'll never solve all the world's

problems.

We won't solve all the problems within

Christianity,

but you know, we can trust that Christ

can work through them to still bring his

salvation to the world,

to still strengthen and build his

church. And so, what we ought to do is

just keep serving God. Don't get

distracted by your personal failures.

Just get them right. Don't get

distracted by the failures of ministry

leaders. Don't get distracted by the

failures within Christianity and the the

division and the strife. Don't get

caught up in all of that. Just put your

head down, keep your eyes on Christ, and

keep serving him. And you can trust

he'll use you and he'll use others to

fulfill his purpose. If you're here

today and you've never trusted Jesus as

your savior, he is the only one who is

capable of redeeming anyone from their

failure. So I encourage you to trust him

today, church. Jesus Christ is a capable

savior for fallible sinners. So let's

just keep our eyes on him. Heavenly

Father, we're thankful for your word

because it it bears raw from cover to

cover the fallible nature of man.

And it shows us that even spiritual

giants like Paul and Barnabas can have

disagreements

that they can separate. that even a

gospel writer like Mark can fail.

I'm thankful that it relates to us.

But I'm thankful that it gives us hope

in Christ.

That nothing can stop the forward

progress of the gospel. You have a work

that you want to do and you will finish

it. And so I pray that we would just

keep our eyes on you and trust in you. I

pray for those who may not know Jesus as

their savior that they would trust in

him today. I pray for those who maybe

have failed before that they would fully

surrender to you now and see how greatly

you can use their life. Pray this in

Jesus name. Amen.