Priscilla and Aquila

Well, Church at the Grove, it is so good.

Two weeks in a row, back with my church family.

Great to see you guys.

If I haven't met you, and maybe it's your first time either here ever or first time being here recently.

Uh, while I've been out a little bit with a uh with a shoulder surgery, I want to say welcome.

We're glad you're here.

Especially glad that you are able to be with us on this uh Labor Day weekend.

Um, and and we're gonna dive in and we're concluding our series, Everyday Heroes, um, this morning.

And so if you've got your Bibles, we're gonna be in the book of Acts, as we have been uh for this series, and we're gonna be in chapter 18 and diving in and concluding, bringing this series to a conclusion.

Uh I've I've had a little extra time to uh to read.

I I've I've read a good bit, I've probably caught up on anything and everything that I want to watch, uh whether a video or a movie, and then also plenty of stuff that I really don't care about.

Um and it's just what you have with with time on your hands.

But I came across some reading the last couple of weeks and was introduced to a guy named Jimmy Ovine.

Jimmy Ovine.

Anybody ever heard of Jimmy Ovine?

Nobody.

I had not either.

But but his his story, who he is, and what he's done is absolutely remarkable.

And so he his his story starts out as a 19-year-old, graduated from high school, went to college, and and I think spent maybe less than a year, maybe a year in college, dropped out of college, went to work in LA for a recording studio, a recording company, um, and he was the janitor.

He came in and cleaned the recording studios after uh all the artists and all the engineers were done recording and mixing and preparing.

And so none of that is very impressive, but but as I continued to dive in, I learned that Jimmy Ovine um learned the the art and the skill of sound engineering and audio mixing and production work for music.

And and and then and then here's what caught my attention.

He worked with artists like John Lennon.

He was in the studio with John Lennon.

This is this goes all the way back to the early 1970s.

Bruce Springsteen, um, artists like that, and then and then what really caught my attention uh because of my personal taste is he was the main producer on the album titled Rattle and Hum by probably one, if not the greatest rock and roll bands in the history of music called U2.

How many of you heard of U2?

Rattle and Hum.

You've heard of an artist named Bono, maybe, right?

You've heard anybody heard of them?

And and you if you're younger than me, maybe you haven't, and maybe that's not that impressive.

What's even even more impressive is Ovine just he transcends time.

And I learned that that he he went from uh you know classic rock and roll and and and you know different genres all the way up to a little more modern time, and he produced and worked with rap artists, people like 50 Cent, people um like uh Dr.

Dre and Snoop Dogg, and he uh he worked with them and their albums, and so gangster rap and rock and roll, modern rock, um uh classic rock, and and and he worked with all types of people.

And so it kind of caught my attention, it caught my interest.

And then I learned that um not only was he uh that did he excel in in finding talent, working with artists of all genres, but he was an entrepreneur as well.

And and after he produced Dr.

Dre's work, he partnered, he became friends with Dr.

Dre and he pitched an idea uh to Dr.

Dre that led to what we now know as Beats um headphones and speakers.

And so Dr.

Dre took it and ran with it, invented Beats headphones and and grew that to a point where this little uh computer technology company titled Apple bought it from Jimmy and Dr.

Dre for$3.2 billion.

Billion dollars.

Now, probably some of you either have children or yourselves or you know somebody that has a set of beats headphones.

Some of my kids have had had those headphones that came from Dr.

Dre and Jimmy Ovine.

We must most of us have probably heard of Dr.

Dre.

He's a pretty pretty common name in the music world, especially in the rap world, but we've never heard of Jimmy Ovine.

Who is that?

Who is this small Italian man that you would pass in the airport and you wouldn't recognize him?

Most of you probably don't have a face in mind.

Look him up on Wikipedia or Google, and you get to know a little more detail in his history.

He goes on to be a part of the discovery of even a little more modern artists like Lady Gaga and others.

And to this day, he may be somewhat retired or moving into retirement, but but his his resume, his his LinkedIn, his history is absolutely impressive.

And most of us would not know his name.

He worked for Apple for a number of years, um, up until maybe uh five to ten years ago, stepped out of that that role with Apple and probably continues to work in the background with with some artists and other recording companies.

And so he's established multiple uh production companies and recording companies.

What does that have to do with everyday heroes?

Well, it's this, it's this.

We typically, we typically focus our attention on who is under the spotlight.

But the real action in much of life is not found under the spotlight.

It's in the shadows of what's happening behind the scenes.

It's the people that that you may not recognize in the airport, the people that you may not know their names unless you look at the credits on the back of a uh of a uh of a an album.

And an album used to be a piece of plastic that you put on a turntable.

So now it's it's you know, you have to look it up online to look at all the fine print.

He was involved in in the music, developing the music for multiple cinema projects, 16 Candles, and and and 8 Mile was a movie.

I can't think of the rap artist.

Some of y'all know him.

Eminem, Eminem, yeah.

So uh he he was involved in all types of stuff like that.

And so we we get caught with who is in the spotlight, not realizing that the real action is behind the scenes in the shadows.

And it's much, it's very similar to how it is in the kingdom of God.

We we focus our attention on who's in the spotlight, who's holding the microphone, who's playing the instrument, who is singing the songs, who's leading out front when there is an army of people behind the scenes in the shadows that are really carrying out the day-to-day responsibilities that advance the gospel and build the church and help see the kingdom of God grow and continue to have influence across the whole world.

And here's kind of the idea for today is that everyday heroes are everyday people using the mundane moments of everyday life to leverage for building the kingdom of God.

It's not necessarily the people in the spotlight, it's the people that are behind the scenes.

You know, we look at the magician and he wants you to focus on this hand, but while you've got your eyes set on this hand, he's got his other hand behind him, and he is working his magic there.

And then at the right time, he shifts your attention from here to here.

And you really never see what's truly going on.

And you're like, wow.

And it's that it's that way with the kingdom of God often.

You know, God, God, God doesn't want us to lose sight of the total picture.

There's there's there's everyday heroes.

We see this in scripture, we see this in activity in the church, and so today we're looking at uh the first really power couple, probably in the history of the world.

And it's really a unique story in the Bible where it's not an individual, it's not a man.

We see men and women, it's not just a woman by herself, it is a married couple together, which is significant because typically in the ancient world, it all the focus was on, was on men, and women were were not valued in their leadership.

Uh, but you the beauty of this story is you see this couple by the name of Aquila and Priscilla.

And so in some places, uh their names are given as Aquila and Priscilla, in other places it's Priscilla and Aquila.

And so sometimes the first name mentioned equals primacy, or what's most important.

And that's what I love about this story.

Both of them are seen as valued and important for the cause of the gospel and the kingdom of God.

Both of them.

The world wants you to focus on those that are in the spotlight, the apostle Paul or the disciples, the gospels, the key leaders.

And I don't want to diminish the significance of Paul.

He's an apostle, he writes one-third of the New Testament.

We see uh we see the story of Acts and Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, he wrote the Gospel of Luke.

Acts is simply a continuation of the Gospel of Luke.

And so we we we tend to put a lot of focus and a lot of, get a lot of credit to the apostle Paul and other leaders, Peter, um, uh Timothy, other major leaders in the New Testament, and we lose sight of the fact that there are everyday heroes that are using just the mundane aspects of their everyday life to leverage for the building of the kingdom of God.

And I'm so thankful for a church that is filled with people that are willing to serve as everyday heroes to see our church impact this community, see our church plant new churches, to see our church partner with mission causes.

And so let's read a little bit about um uh Paul and and Priscilla and Aquila, the book of Acts, chapter 18, starting with verse 18, going through verse 21.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Verse 18, it says Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that, then said goodbye to the brothers and sisters and went near to nearby Chintriah.

Then he shaved his head according to Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow.

Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.

Here they are.

He set sail for Syria.

So here we are in Corinth.

Um, in Corinth.

They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind while he was there.

He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews.

They asked him to stay longer, but he declined as he left.

However, he said, I will come back later, God willing.

Then he set sail from Ephesus.

And here I want I want to I want to give you three specific roadmarks, landmarks, so to speak, that describe the significance of Priscilla and Aquila's life that helped position them to be, to play a significant role in the life of the early church, not necessarily in the spotlight, but working behind the scenes quietly and steadily, knowing that even the smallest area of service contributes to the advancement of the gospel and the building of the kingdom of God.

And here's what what we here's the first roadmark that we see about everyday heroes, specifically from Aquila and Priscilla.

Everyday heroes are first disciples positioning themselves for growth.

Priscilla and Aquila have quietly heard the gospel, responded to the gospel, put their faith in Jesus Christ, repented and believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, and they begin to follow the way of Jesus, practicing habits and rhythms in their life.

They followed Paul with a desire to learn.

They wanted to grow.

They wanted to experience the fullness of the gospel message, knowing that there was always something new and fresh.

They refused to be stale in their faith.

And they knew that the Holy Spirit had more for them.

They wanted everything that God had for them, and they wanted to experience a personal encounter and the personal leadership of the Holy Spirit following the way of Christ.

And so they spent time with Paul because they knew that he could pour into their lives as he taught them.

Priscilla and Aquila were everyday people.

They didn't have a call.

They didn't have a title.

They weren't called pastor.

They weren't called missionaries.

You know what?

They had everyday jobs like most of all of us.

Like I did in my 20s before I surrendered to the call to full-time ministry and to the idea of youth ministry, and to eventually being a church planter and a pastor.

So they were not satisfied with living life just chasing after, and I don't know what they called it back then, but today we would call it the American dream.

I just got to get a great job.

I got to make more money so I can have a nice house and drive a nice car or chariot or horse, donkey, whatever, whatever they had.

Today, success does equal having a donkey and a yard full of chickens, homesteading or whatever they call it.

Their lives have been changed by Jesus.

They wanted to continue to walk in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and then they wanted to share Jesus with as many people as they could.

They were the first century power couple.

And so they were they were like what?

Brangelina or or or Benefer?

That didn't last long, did it?

It's really sad.

They broke up again.

I don't even know.

I tried to think of a nickname for Priscilla and Aquilla.

I don't know what it is, but it ends with Illa.

Godzilla.

I don't know.

That's what we think after we've been married for five or ten years.

I married.

Godzilla.

No, I'm kidding.

I'm not talking about me.

I I married an angel.

I married an angel.

She's a little bit mean sometimes, but she takes care of me.

See, it's their hunger for more of Jesus and their desire for the presence of Jesus and for his mission.

And they attached themselves to Paul because they saw something in Paul.

They said, I want what Paul has.

And it was a it was a it was a growing relationship, faith that grew.

And they they didn't have they didn't have a big-time spiritual pedigree.

They didn't go to a college, they didn't go to a seminary, they didn't have a certain type of education.

You know what they had?

They had simply, they lived their life as blue-collar workers.

Their title was probably leather worker.

What the Bible says, a tent maker.

They had that in common with Paul.

They were all tent makers.

And so, but what they had as blue-collar workers was an insatiable desire for the things of God in their life.

And so, back to verse 18, Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that.

Then he said goodbye to the brothers and sisters and went to nearby Centria.

Then he shaved his head according to Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow.

Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.

So they're willing to launch out, they're willing to leave their comfort zone.

They're willing to follow Paul because they knew that this is what the Lord wants us to do.

They stepped out.

They stepped off a cliff.

They stepped out in faith.

And they said, you know what?

We see God working in this apostle's life.

We see something special and we recognize that and we want to attach ourselves to that.

We want to help Paul.

Maybe they felt like Paul needed help.

Maybe they felt a little bit sorry for Paul.

He's not married.

He's left everything he knew in his comfort zone.

He's left the world of religion and Judaism to launch out.

His life is often in danger.

And they felt like we need to follow him, but he needs our help.

And so every day heroes are first as disciples, like you and I, wanting more of Jesus, following Jesus, and they fueled that with steps of obedience, knowing that the next step would lead them to a fresh work of the Holy Spirit.

And here's the question: where is God at work?

We want to put ourselves in the will of God.

And so the second roadmark is this everyday heroes are encouragers to those already in ministry.

Everyday heroes are encouragers to those who are already in ministry.

Look at verse 24.

Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.

He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy.

I love that.

Man, he's excited about teaching the word, and he has been familiar, has become familiar with the word of God.

And so they had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.

He had been taught the way of the Lord, Apollos had been, and he taught others about Jesus with this enthusiastic spirit and accuracy.

However, he knew only about John's baptism.

Verse 26, when Priscilla, this underlying star of this, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.

Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia.

And the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go.

They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him.

So what you see with with Apollos is a man who's had an encounter with Jesus and desperately wants to be a part of the advancement of the gospel and the growing of the kingdom of God.

But Apollos has not necessarily been around sound teaching or teaching that includes the full gospel or what we would say is just good foundational theology.

He's gotten hung up on the baptism of John the Baptist, putting a lot of emphasis on the baptism of John the Baptist rather than transitioning to the reality that it is Jesus, it is Jesus Christ that has our focus or should be our focus.

He is the one who came and lived and died and gave his life for us to have forgiveness and redemption.

He was buried and then bodily resurrected on the third day.

That is the essence of the gospel.

That is the center of the message of the gospel of Jesus.

And so they here's what here's what Priscilla and Aquila do.

They don't post his theological shortcomings on Facebook.

They don't put something on Instagram saying this is a false teacher.

They quietly pull him aside.

They see an excited, enthusiastic, hungry, humble heart for the truth.

And because of their proximity and relationship with the Apostle Paul, they had the vantage point of being able to quietly pull Apollos aside and encourage him.

Encourage him in the Lord.

Give him some good mentoring, some good teaching, some good foundational principles from their vantage point of being with an apostle.

They encourage him, they put their arms around him.

And so it says in verse 27, Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go.

They wrote to the believers in Achaia.

So they write a recommendation letter asking them to welcome him.

When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who by God's grace had believed.

So they invest in Apollos, so Apollos can be greater in his investing in others for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom of God.

He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments and public debate.

He grew in his ability to communicate using the scriptures.

He explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah.

You see it?

He moves from focusing on the baptism of John to Jesus being at the center of the gospel message, the center of the biblical narrative, the center of the story of God.

Made me think back.

You know, I was in the business world in my 20s, worked for a company that was an industrial, big industrial supply company based out of Savannah, Georgia.

And so I traveled in South Georgia, North Florida.

But during that time, I was going to a youth camp every summer, and the Lord was working on my heart.

I sensed God speaking to me about the possibility of moving into a ministry role.

I didn't know what it looked like, but I knew that I was hungry.

I wanted more.

I had fresh encounters with Jesus every year at this camp.

And just in my own personal walk, I knew there was something else that God was leading me into.

And so I wanted to make sure I attached myself to the right people that could encourage me, that could lift me up, that would lead me into experiencing Jesus in a fresh way, experiencing more of the Holy Spirit.

And so I said, God, whatever you want me to do, I remember in February of 1993, I got down on my knees in my apartment in Savannah, Georgia.

And I said, I said, God, I know you're leading me into something new.

I said, I need you to make it clear, but I'm telling you, I am open.

I surrender whatever you want for me.

And he began to put people in my life.

He began to bring people that would confirm that calling.

I called this girl named Jill.

She was a counselor at Peachtree City Elementary School.

And we had developed this friendship.

And I kind of threw her for a loop.

I called her and I said, Hey, do you think you'll ever be interested in getting married?

And she said, Well, you know, maybe.

I'm kind of busy.

But, you know, I may slow down one day.

I said, Well, if you ever, if you would ever consider getting married, do you think you would ever consider it being to me?

And it got real quiet.

Jill, you there?

She said, Well, maybe.

And I wore her down over time.

So series of steps.

I, you know, we we both went back to Impact Camp the next summer.

The Lord led us into a more serious relationship.

I proposed to her in November of 94.

We got married in June of 95.

Started at my first church in North Hall County in January of 95.

And so, and I loved it.

It was a great, great church, probably a small country church.

It's grown into a regional church now.

It's a great place.

We still have a lot of friends up there.

And you know, one thing led to another, you know, fast forward through a lot of things that I don't have time to talk about, but but God led us to Cobb County, to Kennesaw, Georgia, and to a church called North Star where I would be the youth pastor at this new church plant.

We were still meeting at North Cobb High School.

The church had bought a piece of property.

They were just beginning to build a building, and God's blessed that church immensely, and it's a church that impacts literally the whole world now.

And and but Jill and I went over, they asked us to come be their youth pastor, and we started driving around northwest Cobb County, and we quickly found out that we could not afford to live in Northwest Cobb County.

And so we we we didn't know where we're gonna live.

We can't find a house that we can afford.

And so we would we would drive from Kennesaw through West Cobb County, through all of these neighborhoods with these huge homes and and really nice neighborhoods.

Is it Brookstone that was the like the neighborhood that that that goes forever?

I mean, and so we would, and so every day I would drive back and forth.

We ended up buying a little house in in I mean, just over the line in East Paulding County.

I mean, it was kind of it was kind of like Walton County to Gwinnette.

Paulding County is to cob.

And so people were starting to move out there, more of a rural area, um, probably uh heavier populated, more you know, quicker growth than than Walton County.

But we would, I would drive through all these neighborhoods like Brookstone every day to go to my office, and and and then we would drive back and forth to church through these nice neighborhoods and and kind of lament the fact that we couldn't live closer to our church home because we were poor.

And so we started doing youth ministries, God started blessing, and all of a sudden we were we were at we we we had adults and their kids come into our youth group, and this couple by the name of Rick and Barb, one um one one Sunday said, Hey, why don't y'all stop by our house and and you know visit with us, we'll have something to eat on your way home.

And so we were making the long drive from Kennesaw out to where the peasants live in East Paulding.

We're driving through all these neighborhoods, these big homes, and we pull into Brookstone.

Brookstone.

It was like the, you know, if you were, if, you know, the goal in life was to move into Brookstone with these nice manicured loans, and and so we we pull into Rick and Barb's house and and and and get out, walk in, and and man, they, you know, there there wasn't any pomp and circumstance.

They weren't that you know, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they weren't really that impressed with us.

You know what they did?

They fed us and they loved on us, and while their kids are running around crazy, so they had two older children that were in the youth group, and then they had a younger daughter that was in the elementary school, and and I never saw her walk anywhere.

She ran everywhere she went.

I was like, where does the energy come from?

And this little girl.

Zoom, zoom, and we're talking and hanging out.

And so they feed us, they, they, they, they hang hung out with us, they told us funny stories and inappropriate jokes for people who are in ministry.

I jested a little bit, but not.

And so, but here here's what, here's, here's, here's what they did.

They encouraged us.

And they loved on us, and they they they valued what we were doing in the ministry.

They said, our kids love it.

And zoom, zoom, zoom, Ingrid, Ingrid sitting right here, has four kids of her own now.

You know, we're in the middle of a conversation, and she zooms around the house.

You never walk anywhere.

Lo and behold, Ingrid is him later, her now husband, who's not here today.

He's sick, he's sick.

Pray for him.

He knew I was preaching.

They ended up moving back to this area with a job and show up at Church of the Grove.

I said, This is meant to be.

You don't have to visit any other churches.

This is where you're supposed to be.

And then Rick and Barb end up moving, have moved or in the process of moving here, building a house.

Anyway, they're such an encouragement, our family, because over many years, they have stayed in touch with us and continue to provide encouragement to us.

And you know what?

They're everyday heroes.

They they they one time we were at their house and and something came up about students and and and having students in homes and Bible studies, and they said, Hey, well, we'll host students here.

I said, You will?

You'll have students in your home?

But you live in Brookstone.

I mean, this is such a nice house, nice yard, nice neighbors.

Are you wanting to take a chance to ruin all of this?

I said, we'll be okay.

They're cool as a cucumber.

But they encouraged us and supported us.

They were comfortable in their skin.

They were comfortable with their role that God had placed them in.

They loved their kids and their family.

They wanted to do the things that position their kids to know the Lord, to have a relationship with Christ, to be able to grow up making good, solid decisions and having a life that was blessed.

And now, you know, if you had the opportunity to know their older son and their older daughter, they're all just incredibly solid adults.

They love Jesus and have been very active in ministry, but they encouraged us.

And so you think a lot of folks at North Star, a lot of folks maybe here don't, you know, may not be familiar with Rick and Barr, but they're all they're down here on the front row, by the way, the whole family almost, except for Tim and maybe one or two of the kids.

No, just one.

But they um they they're they're they're everyday heroes.

While we're focused, we tend to focus on what's on in the spotlight on the stage of the platform, they quietly are behind the scenes, encouraging and supporting and living generous lives because they believe in the kingdom of God being advanced.

You see it?

And then finally, everyday heroes look for where God is already at work and they join him there.

They look for where God is already at work and join him there.

A man by the name of Henry Blackaby, one of the great spiritual leaders, probably in the history of the church, a modern-day apostle Paul type leader, has planted churches all over the world, in the United States, outside of the United States.

Um, and he is a man who never looked for the spotlight, but ended up writing, wrote multiple books, wrote a Bible study that has been one of the most significant Bible studies probably for the entire church in modern times called Experiencing God.

And the main idea of his Bible study, his book, and there's devotionals, is that this, you don't, you don't pave the way.

God has already paved the way with Jesus and his Holy Spirit.

Our role as disciples and and followers of Jesus that want to advance the gospel and the kingdom of God, our role is to simply look for where God is at work and then join him where he is already at work.

We don't have to recreate the will.

We don't have to recreate anything new.

We simply look for where God is at work and join him there.

So while in Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla, they crossed paths with Apollos.

They were excited as they observed a man committed to Jesus and sharing the gospel.

They saw a teachable leader that had not reached his potential as a minister, a communicator, or a leader.

Apollos had a Jewish heritage, and so this Jewish background led probably to maybe a little bit of a bent toward legalism.

I mean, he meant well.

He was an eloquent speaker, and so they recognized that if he could experience the fresh work of Christ, he would be able to lead not through a spirit of legalism, but through the freedom that Christ leads us into as followers of Jesus.

And so Aquila and Priscilla wanted to encourage Apollos and lead him in the understanding of the gospel.

They knew his ministry could have explosive growth if he moved away from the harsh legalism that had been his foundation from Judaism.

And that the weight of freedom was through the gospel of Jesus.

Moving away from behavior modification to truly spirit-filled, a spirit-filled life of following Jesus and ministering to others.

That's why everyday heroes are people using the mundane things of life to lead us and guide us.

One of my heroes in ministry is a man by the name of Chuck Swindah.

He's still going strong out in Texas.

He's probably in his 80s now.

I crossed paths with Chuck Swindall for the first time in 1994 when I flew out to Boulder, Colorado, and went to my first Promise Keepers event where at the University of Colorado we filled up a stadium packed with men.

60,000 plus men worshiping Jesus, singing all together, praises and worship songs as men.

And Chuck Swindah was one of the speakers that day.

And he blew me away with his humility, but the power that came out of him as he spoke.

And so we see as we look at his story, Chuck Swindah speaks about how the mundane and the miraculous go together.

And so he talks about these three lessons he's learned.

And the first one was that God's plans are not hindered when the events of this world are carnal or secular.

God is always at work.

God is moving.

It's not just in a Sunday morning service.

He's working in every way, shaping and advancing the gospel in this world that has competing kingdoms for our heart.

Secondly, God's purposes are not frustrated by moral or marital failures.

How do we know?

Because he's a God who applies grace to the long view of life.

Wrong grieves him.

Don't mistake this.

Wrong does grieve the Lord, and serious consequences will follow.

But there's no amount of wrong that frustrates the sovereign purposes and the work of our Savior.

And then thirdly, he says, God's people are not excluded from high places, which is well basically means that God's work is not excluded to church or to our gatherings because of a handicap or hardship.

He explains, Esther was a Jew exiled in a foreign land.

She was an orphan.

She was light years removed from Persian nobility, yet none of that kept God from exalting her to the position that he wanted her in to influence the outcome of the world at that time in history.

And so he says this.

He goes on to talk about this.

He says, God's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor his ear so heavy that he cannot hear.

Whether you see him or not, he's at work in your life this very moment.

Listen, listen.

Are you listening?

Look at me.

Look at me.

Some of you have had a busy week, and I'm well in to this sermon, and you're waiting for me to land the plane.

But here's what he says: God specializes in turning the mundane into the meaningful.

He turns the mundane into the meaningful.

God not only moves in unusual ways, he also moves in uneventful ways.

He is just as involved in the mundane as he is in the miraculous.

God is a sovereign God at work amid the vast scenes of state and empires in our world.

And we, even in the midst of our usual days, our boring days, our mundane days, must remain pure and committed to the things of God and his work in our lives, even as we remain sensitive to his hand, moving in this carnal, secular, even at times seemingly drunken world.

He said, Only then can we bring to a broken world the hope that it so desperately needs and can only be found in the person of Jesus.

So Aquila and Priscilla knew this and they taught it.

They believed it.

They lived it.

If you're not growing in your faith, you are not in the will of God.

Listen, some of us want to crowd the middle.

We want a safe place in the middle of our existence.

Where God says, listen, you want the best fruit.

It's out on the end of the limb.

If you're hanging out in the middle, then you are hanging out in an area that's too crowded and needs somebody to step out and live life on the edge.

Where the excitement, where God's will is.

And I look around this room and I look at people who were with us when we started this church, said, We're not going to hang out in a comfortable area.

We've got kids.

A church plant doesn't have an established children's ministry.

A church plant doesn't have an established youth ministry.

And they're willing to bring their kids and to sacrifice the big and the shiny and what is normally in the spotlight to come and to work behind the scenes to build something.

And here we are, 18 years later, next year.

Week is our 18-year anniversary from the very first service we had in 2006.

And now we are a church that not only has an incredible children's ministry, not only has an incredible student ministry, but probably are known more for our children's ministry and our student ministry as anything else.

And so we say, yay, man, we're thankful for Katie.

We're thankful for Jonah.

We're thankful for Anderson.

We're thankful for the worship leadership that Hannah and Brandon and so many others in our team provide.

But it doesn't stop there.

It doesn't stop with those that are tend to be in what we would call the spotlight.

There's so many people that are behind the scenes, the everyday heroes that are back in the shadows.

Doing the busy work, encouraging others as they lead, supporting them.

And people that have come since we started, they're so faithful.

That know that the work in a local church is not to be in the, you know, it's not just to be up front.

It's not just the pastors, it's not just those that are on the platform.

It is the real work is behind the scenes.

It's the everyday heroes and the mundane areas.

And you have the David and the Donna's that have regular jobs and are carrying on with their life and and all the things that go with raising their kids, but quietly they're just every week they're inviting a friend.

Every week they're reaching out to minister.

And they've got stuff going on in their life.

Parents are aging and and and family members are going through stuff, but they they continue to reach out and bring people, individuals, couples.

Hanging out with a community group last night, full of people that get this, and they're they're enjoying life and they're spending time together, but there's a purpose behind that activity, and that purpose is hey, we want to partner with what God is doing.

We want our kids to be around other couples who are, who are willing in the background, in the shadows, to do the work of an everyday hero to carry on the ministry.

And so here's my questions as we close here.

Do you sense that God wants you maybe to take a step out of faith?

Move out of the center of the crowd, to step out on the edge, to reach out for the best fruit, to reach out for the exciting fruit of the gospel ministry.

What is God saying to you through this story, through this passage?

Priscilla and Aquila, you can also find them as they as they move, they follow the Apostle Paul to Corinth, and then they end up in Ephesus.

All the time they are everyday heroes working behind the scenes in the mundane areas of life, knowing that the mundane and the miraculous go together.

See, we all need, we all need someone that's out ahead of us, like an apostle Paul, that can pour into our life.

But at some point, we are to be that person to somebody else.

And so it's it's this constant cycle of growth and investment.

We're invested in by somebody ahead of us.

They help us grow to a point where we have something to offer, somebody who is behind us, who's younger in the faith.

And then we we slow down, we pay attention, and then we grab them and lead them along the way, discipling them to a place where they too can grow, experiencing a fresh work of the Holy Spirit.

You see that in the life of Paul and Timothy and so many others.

Can you imagine what a church would be like if we all collectively understood the significance of everyday heroes like Priscilla and Aquila?

And we found Apollos, our Apollos, that we could put our arm around.

May not have the correct theology, may not have all things everything together, they may, you know, they may still have some rough edges, but we don't shake our finger in their face.

We extend our hands to serve and love and gently bring into the presence of Jesus.

As our team comes this morning to lead us into a time of communion, we're gonna experience together as a church family what it means to come to the table of the Lord.

We call it the Lord's Supper, we call it communion.

It is a meal, an activity, it is a fellowship, it is a it is a very, very spiritual, um, serious time where we recognize that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, He's the Christ, He is the Messiah, and He has given His life, He has spilled His blood, and He has allowed His body to be broken to bring us into a relationship with Jesus.

He took, He took the sin and He took the brokenness that we all have experienced.

He took that upon Himself so we could be set free from its bondage.

And he he invites us into this life of freedom, of growing and and and influencing others to do the same.

And so Jesus told us as he shares with his disciples in the upper room before he is ascending to the Heavenly Father, He said, I'm gonna share a meal with you.

And he said, I want you to see this as something that you will do continually until I return again.

And this is a memorial, it is a reminder of what I have done on your behalf and what I have promised you that I will do in the future.

I have lived and I have died and I have been resurrected and I have ascended and then I will return.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11, he says, he says, we are to do this in remembrance of Jesus and what he has done.

And in doing and practicing the Lord's Supper and communion, we take the wafer that represents the body of Jesus.

And I'm telling you, this is a spiritual experience.

I mean, we are to imagine that we are with Jesus.

He is with us.

He said, I will be with you in this memorial.

As we take the wafer and we recognize and acknowledge that this represents his broken body, and we dip it into the juice that represents his spilled blood.

And so in his broken body and his spilled blood, he provides for our forgiveness and redemption from sin.

And he promises that he'll come back.

And we're to practice this until he returns.

When he returns, we'll be in person with him at the banquet table in heaven.

He will return.

There will be no more brokenness.

There will be no more sin.

There will be no more cancer.

There will be no more suffering.

There will be no more separation.

We'll be whole.

We'll be healed.

We'll be with Jesus.

And we'll be with our loved ones.

We'll be with this group.

And it'll be better than anything we've ever experienced.

And so this is practiced this morning for what is to come and how we can live and walk in the presence of Jesus as an everyday hero.

And so as our team leads us, I'm going to pray in a second.

And when I say amen, that is your invitation to make your way to the table of the Lord.

And take that wafer, dip it in the juice.

You can do it as individuals, you can do it as a couple, you can do it as a family, you can do it as multiple couples, as a group, community, if you would like.

Grab it, pick a spot that gives people freedom to get to the table.

And just I want you to focus on the reality.

This is not symbolic.

Jesus said, I will be there in your presence.

It is real.

He's here, he's beside us.

And he says, I'll never leave you and forsake you.

Amen.

Take the mundane and let's step into the miraculous this morning.

Would you pray with me?

Father, thank you for being our hope.

Thank you for being the provider of true life and joy.

Lord, I love the words of your apostle.

He says, if if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, all things have become new.

And so we thank you for that.

Lord Jesus, help us to peer back behind the spotlight and let us be aware that there are the church is made up predominantly of everyday heroes behind the scenes that come alongside leaders and pastors and missionaries and worship leaders and elders and those that are in the ministry and leading, and we come together into your presence to carry out the mission that you've given us.

I pray, Lord, I pray for marriages to understand, marriages to understand that a marriage is not to benefit our own selves, it's not to provide for our own happiness.

It is to bring us and move us into a journey toward holiness.

And marriages, in a sense, it is, it exists to reveal the areas in our everyday mundane lives that need redemption, that need sanctification.

And that God, you want more of us to be like Priscilla and Aquila, to move out of the crowd, to step out onto the edge, and to know that the fruit that you want for us is out on the end of the limb.

And we step out in faith.

And so, God, this morning, our greatest need may not be just coming to this table.

Our greatest need might be coming to the altar.

The altar is a place of sacrifice.

The altar is a place where we lay ourselves down at the feet of Jesus.

The altar is a place where we come to let Him know that our hearts are desperate for a fresh work.

And we need the power of the Spirit to cut away at the dirty, nasty, ugly places in our heart and to bring healing, healing, so we can walk forward into the mission and the purpose, even through the mundane areas of our life.

God, I pray for more everyday heroes to step up.

I pray for more everyday heroes to step into our children's ministry, to understand the sacredness of that activity and that service.

I pray for more everyday heroes to step into our student ministry.

I pray for more Rick and Barbs that will that will invite, invite those that are serving to simply encourage them, invite them into having a meal, invite them in to providing a safe place to laugh, safe place to share what their needs are.

So, Father, we thank you.

We thank you for your work, your salvation.

And I pray as we come to your table that you will lead us to experience you in a fresh and unique way.

It's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You make your way as our team leads us as you feel led to experience the Lord.