Matt Chandler - A New People

well good morning if you have your bibles I’d go and grab them I know we put it on the screen and we read it before I get out here but I love to point to it as we read through it so if you have a bible go ahead and grab that if you’re at home grab that we’re going to be in acts 13. just three verses this morning now I want to talk about here as we kind of crash into 2021 I want to talk about our collective lives together all right here’s what I mean by that might sound simple to you or maybe you don’t even know what I’m talking about when I talk about our collective life together but but the reality is that individualism is actually the great vice of the western world and that we have been so trained by the plausibility structure outside of these walls to think first of ourselves and second to the community that we belong to uh we carry an undue amount of weight and we miss out on what the church is supposed to be doing in a given time and place so so here’s uh what I mean when I say that um that that we exist in a very real way the local church exists to be a counter culture within the predominant culture so outside these walls there’s what sociologists call a plausibility structure what that means is that people outside of these walls naturally believe the world works a specific way that’s their plausibility structure which means there’s this this sounds right to me would be a great way to put a plausibility structure so outside the walls there’s a this sounds right to me this makes sense to me now I don’t think I have to push too hard to get you to believe that we don’t fully line up with that plausibility structure in fact if you have not watched tv in the last year and thought we have lost our minds then this might not be the church for you uh all right so so we’re watching we’re like they have lost their we have collectively lost our minds well praise god the church of jesus christ should be thinking that now we shouldn’t be um with judgment or harshness interacting with that but god has called us collectively as a people to be a different kind of plausibility structure embedded in that one so that the world can look at us and go oh there’s actually a different way to do this rather than just going this is what it is no they see us collectively and go what is that there’s a whole different way of doing life this is like my way of thinking about marriage and money and sex and power and all that that’s different and either drawn to or with a great deal of disdain despise and yet we we still kind of shift to the individual first like I don’t know if you knew this but when jesus said to the crowd you are the light of the world he was speaking first century texan it actually translates y’all are the light of the world you guys are the light of the world right y’all are the light of the world now think about how in one sense that should take some pressure off of you like hey breathe bro you ain’t the light of the world you just breathe about just like oh thank god it was damn bro it was damn yeah you’re not the light of the world we are the light of the world now I am not in any way talking about or taking away from the imperatives in the word of god that command you to live a holy life but how do you live a holy life outside of a community is not holiness not not granted holiness not not positional holiness that’s given via justification when god forgives all of our sin past present and future in the life death and resurrection of jesus christ that’s not what I’m talking I’m talking about lived out righteousness now where does that play out in a vacuum when you’re all by yourself no it plays out in our life together which is why there are so many one and others in the new testament why because god is forming he’s creating an alternate reality I would argue ultimate reality among his people that we might be placed in a given time and a given place so that people might see that god is god that god is god and so here’s here here’s what if you would if you would look back on christian history you would see that when the church is doing that embracing our call as a community of faith creating a plausibility structure within the predominant culture that shows that the god of the bible is the one true god and how we love one another and how we interact with one another and how we interact with the world around us when we embrace that really profound things have happened so I mean I’ve heard the chatter I can see the horizon I hear a lot about how you know christians are persecuted and then more and more and more we’re going to be persecuted and I I’m not saying that’s not coming for us in fact I think probably it is I think it’ll probably come through economics more that it’ll come through legislation but here’s what I’m just going to keep saying it um it’ll sting but let it come it’ll sting but let it come and what I want to try to embolden us to do today is to think about our collective uh collective community think about our collective life together in a way that will shine like a star in the darkness so so historically when uh empires nations whatever start to press the church of jesus christ she does really really well she does really what’s actually when people leave us alone that we actually kind of start becoming the things that we read in the old testament we never ascribe to ourselves right like we’re that one final people group that isn’t going to slip back into rebellion and forgetfulness of what god has done and who he is which is such an arrogant absurd western thing but may I can’t call it western we’ve been doing it you know I mean all the way back to exodus it was happening right and so with that said there’s been this one quote that kind of always provokes my imagination uh because it took place the quote was written when the church was um really being decimated by by the roman empire I mean feeding us to lions you hear me talk about this stuff all the time imprisoning stealing ourselves I mean just a kind of persecution that we could not get our imaginations around a kind of brutality in which there was nothing there to stop it there was no bill of rights there was no subgroup of people willing to fight against it was the the ultimate power of rome crucifying killing persecuting stealing imprisoning not bringing a charge against just throwing you in prison forever and and it was out of that that um caesar hadrian couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t snuff out christianity he just couldn’t figure out what was going on like this little cult was taking over his empire and so he he hires basically this guy to go figure it out so he lets this undercover guy just like kind of infiltrated uh the church and here is here’s writing back to caesar hadrian they love one another and he who has gives to him who has not without boasting and when they see a stranger they take him into their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother and if there is among them any that are poor and needy and if they have no spare food they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food such a king is their manner of life and verily this is a new people and there is something divine in the midst of them like man I can’t tell you I’m weakly reading that quote and saying please please god make us this people right like how do you destroy that people right he’s like what is going on and the response is they love each other and man they will sacrifice to provide for the poor and man there’s there’s something divine here oh king this is something new this isn’t what we’ve dealt with before and other uprisings and other cults and other this there’s something divine among these people and so what I want to talk about out of this passage acts 13 1-3 is what it might look like what what I think in in the context that we find ourselves right we do you understand what I mean by context like like we are um in the great nation of texas in the slightly less great than nation of the united states uh a part of uh the south we have our own swagger on plaza I mean texas is just its own thing man all right and and we this is where we are we’re not just in texas we’re in dallas texas or the dfw airport or the fw area like we’re not austin right like you not like we’re dallas and and that’s got good and bad and all that we’ve got our own kind of contextual thing going on here and so in light of the time in which our lives are playing out how are we to be that kind of living plausibility structure that living counter culture to the predominant culture well I think this passage gives us some possibilities that I want us to consider as a church and in so doing uh you’re going to hear a lot of my heart for us in in the coming year all right so so let’s read this passage again I’m going to read just the the first verse and then we’ll stop and I want to talk about it and then we’ll kind of dive into the rest of the passage now there were in the church at antioch prophets and teachers barnabas and simeon who was called niger lucius of cyrene menenaia a lifelong friend of herod the tetrarch and saul period now here’s the here’s the first thing if we’re going to be this counterculture if we’re going to shine like a sorry if our collective life together is going to show the world that their way of living isn’t the only way we will fight and we must fight for harmony among ourselves let me show you what’s going because this is a very unstable home group that we’re reading about right here like how many of you had a tough a go in a home group okay if you’re handing it up you ain’t tried it yet all right like that man they can go weird they can get weird quick and this you don’t put this group together in fact if you’re a coach you’d be like ah let’s break you two up so let me let’s just dive in let’s just talk about barnabas and saul here being in the same home group so we know this isn’t the first time we met barnabas we know barnabas we know barnabas back in in acts chapter four in fact barnabas is actually in one of the more famous passages in the book of acts we just read so fast we don’t really go oh that was barnabas acts 4 36 thus joseph who was also called by the apostles barnabas which means son of encouragement a levite a native of cyprus sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet this is what we know about barnabas he he’s like a human golden retriever all right so much so that the apostles like yeah we’re not calling you joseph anymore do you have that kind of power yeah barnabas is your name you are the son of encouragement right and so now the son of encouragement is seeing oh there are needs in the kingdom there are needs in the kingdom and I’ve got this plot of land it’s just sitting there maybe it’s an investment property maybe he’s gonna build his future home on it where the mother-in-law can live out back close but not too close he was getting that all situated and yet he got struck by the kingdom so he takes this plot of land right and he sells it and he takes all the money and he lays it at the feet of the apostles and says do with it what you will this is barnabas and but he like we see saul back in this day also here’s what it says about saul back around the same time this is acts 8 1-3 and saul approved of his execution and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of judea and samaria except the apostles and devout men buried stephen and made great lamentation over him but saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison now here here’s what is unmistakable I don’t know that saul knew who barnabas was but barnabas absolutely knew saul was like the possibility in this small tight-knit community that was gathering day after day devoted to the apostles teaching and prayer and the breaking of bread this tight-knit community absolutely knew the one you know religious legislated man that was coming in to destroy them and drag them out of their homes and put them in prison and publicly parade them around and shame them no way barnabas doesn’t know who saul is and now they’re in the same home group worshiping and praying and fasting you don’t can I’m just going to confess as your pastor if you can’t if you don’t make it through this one you’re just not gonna make it here I can still be really petty about people who uh sin against me anybody else still asking god to grow them faster like I can just feel real patty like I don’t want them to have the forgiveness that I’ve enjoyed I don’t want them to be blessed because they’ve harmed me I want I want thunder lightning and then I’ll catch myself and go oh how long o lord will I be stuck here and it’s not happening as fast or as often but I can still be really petty and I ain’t hanging on to hey man you drug my best friend and his wife out into the street you beat him and you threw him in prison I ain’t struggling with that and yet I can still feel at times I can’t believe you said that about me I can’t believe you emailed me that I can’t believe you like after we’ve served you and walked with you and loved you like that I mean how dare you and and get petty and and like fight against getting jaded and angry and I mean I can be petty and yet the gospel’s done such a profound work here that that not only are are barnabas and saul in in this little home group but they’re about to plant churches all over the ancient world and overthrow the roman empire together how crazy is the gospel creates this weird harmony among enemies now it still has to be leaned into still has to be fought for it still has to in like this isn’t even like there’s more like if you think that’s bad it ain’t even like this thing gets weirder then you’ve just got sitting in there maninea he’s a lifelong friend of herod the tetrarch that was just thrown out there like I if you you do some digging in this passage here the tetra gets herod antipas like his dad killed all the boys under two in bethlehem remember that chipper little new testament story he killed his brother-in-law he executed his mother-in-law he even killed his second wife and then he married the ex-wife of his half-brother had john the baptist beheaded and then he wanted jesus to entertain him and when jesus wouldn’t do a miracle he sent him back to pilate to be crucified but not until he beat the mess out of him like you don’t think in that small group they’re like hey man what’s wrong with your boy like what like how are you lifelong friends with this guy like think about how the church acts right how uh specifically western evangelicals handles uh secondary associations oh you were at that place with that guy well golly like that ain’t happening here look at me that ain’t happening here ain’t no one going oh man and I you’re running with that crowd there’s you’re not welcome here it’s not happening the gospels created something new something different back to our letter to caesar there is something divine among them because how can this be if there’s not something divine among them and then like if that’s not weird enough we got so many different ethnicities that your head’s going to spin like look at this barnabas is from cyprus he’s a hellenistic jew simeon has an unknown origin but but they’re calling him black they’re calling him niger that’s not ironic he’s not like an albino jew they’re like hey nigel that’s not what’s happening here you’ve got lucius he’s cyrene he’s an african you’ve got mennonites palestinian he’s a greek herodian and then you have saul from tarsus he’s a hebraic jew who’s been converted what a like if there was ever a home group ripe to explode all over itself and split the church it’s this one except that’s not what we find them doing now before I do that why am I showing this to you you and I are living in a charged environment aren’t we we live in a charge it hardly takes a sentence to make something explode we we are like hey even if we unaware we feel like we’re on a spring and if one person says one thing we will kind of equate it to a thousand and then we’ll launch and get ready to attack and if we will be a different story we will be a different plausibility structure we must not give in to the way the world behaves I I’m no romantic there there’s some tension in this group even as they pray and worship and fast there’s man you can be the most prayerful worshipping fasting people and there’s relational conflict from time to time anybody anybody like love jesus deeply can still get in some scrums I can you can like this is what it means to be human in a very and and why we so desperately need a savior and why we have to understand that as recipients of god’s grace we had better be able to then extend that grace to others see I’m trying to point this out to you to show you what’s possible in the gospel to show you what the gospel actually builds and creates when people are serious about leaning into the call that god has on our lives like I am to give you the benefit of the doubt I am to fight against my natural cynicism I am to fight against my natural proclivity or impulse to make war I’m to give you the benefit out I am to look for the silver lining I am to in every way pray for you encourage you speak life into you even if we disagree even if we don’t land in the same spot to according to the book be committed to you to love you to serve you to consider you better than myself to be patient with you to be gracious to you to war in the heavenlies for you and and if and when we can do that together we start to feel and look like what what peter call an alien and stranger in this day and age like I said I’m no roman this will have to be fought for the way I try to do it myself is if I if I feel myself get angry or frustrated or if I start doing that thing where I’ve created a scenario in my mind and I’m starting to power up to see how I’ll do that when it happens those to me are giant red flags check engine lights that I’m not where I’m supposed to be so in that moment I go I’m I’m angry at this person they haven’t really done anything I’m just imagining that they will do something please help me am I the only one that struggles with that okay well will you help me now am I like just bearing my soul up here and you’re like okay right I mean just be with me sheesh now this isn’t the only so this is that ongoing ethic of confession and repentance checking our heart not just being swept down the the river with the I mean we are to go okay why am I frustrated right now why am I angry right now why does this person bother me right now why is that and I’m going to take that to the lord I have been given a place to take that the world can’t take it anywhere they’ve got to be angry they take it to facebook that ought not be for us we got a better place to take our fear we got a better place to take our anger we got a better place to take our frustration and we have a god who’s big enough to hear it and carry it so that we can be free of it I just have to wonder how many of you even in this room coming into 2020 are carrying resentment and bitterness and unforgiveness and it just that that resentment is such a warm blanket to you that you feel like man if I were to let that go and forgive that person and give that to god that person would win look right at me I love you the only person losing right now is you the only person losing right now is you there is a holy just god in the heavens that will grant that person and that offense the grace and mercy that you have been shown or he will rightly and justly judge it and all you can do is get angry burn hide grow bitter and angry and destroy the quality of life that maybe is waiting for you in the future and maybe it’s not an individual maybe it’s an organization like I it’s been a fascinating five or six months in fact in the last in the last three weeks I’ve had three separate people two men and a woman come up and ask my forgiveness at resentment and bitterness towards the church at how we handled this or how we handled that and and man I was I was keen just go yeah man I kind of agree with that I wish we would have handled that better thank you though man you’re right I mean we certainly could have considered that and we didn’t I’m not sure why we didn’t thank you for being gracious so the resentment wasn’t towards an individual was towards an organization another guy just really struggling with his work right now and how his work is operating his bitterness and resentment the anger it’s about his work and it’s eating him up and I’m like man you gotta by god’s grace you gotta let this go man it’s just gonna consume you plus we ought not be those people we have to be quick to confess quick to repent quick to lay these things in front of god and ask for mercy and so here here’s what I’m going to do I’m going to stop right now in the sermon and I’m going to pray for us and what I’m going to pray is that the holy spirit would bring to the front of your mind bitterness resentment unforgiveness places where it’s just been so hard to let you go look I’ve even writing this I’ve got two in my life right now that there’s a certain name there’s a certain situation if you bring it up my I’ll just feel it I don’t know maybe maybe just godly or not I can just feel it and I don’t want it in there anymore so all we know I’m preaching this like take this lord will you just take this I don’t I know I know it’s right and good I’m having a hard time letting it go and even when I do think I let it go some will happen some will get mentioned it’ll flare right back like some of that stuff’s deep those are the roots of bitterness right why do you think calls them roots does it get down in there and so we want to wrestle through and lay it before so here um I can’t go too long today let me pray won’t you bow your heads close your eyes I’m just going to pray for us father I thank you for my brothers and sisters I praise you that you know it’s scary to be us you know we’re fragile and so holy spirit I just ask right now in this moment that you’d bring to the front of our minds any resentment bitterness anger that’s levied towards people places we’ve been unable to let go and just trust that you are god now if you have someone something someplace in your head right now I just want to encourage you to just hand that over to jesus just even if you’re at home right now on a couch just just in your mind’s eye just lay that person lay that situation lay whatever that is at the feet of jesus and just ask god to take this and and you don’t want to carry it anymore and you want to be free of it spirit I thank you that you hear our prayers that you long for us to walk in freedom so I ask that you would grant the souls represented in this room and the ones that are watching online the freedom of not carrying this anger this bitterness this fear or rage any longer heal the deep hurts that have been caused I pray that they not be expounded by hanging on to this anger and it’s for your beautiful name I pray amen so we’re gonna have to fight for harmony I think we see this in the passage the second thing and I think all these start to connect right I think you can think about it like getting the mix right so so you have fighting for harmony right you’re my brother you’re my sister I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt I’m not gonna slander you I’m gonna pray for you even when we disagree even god help us when I bother you when you bother me because that is happening for some of you it’s happening right now and then the other thing we see in this passage that we’re going to be if we’re going to be this um this plausibility structure that stands in contrast to the world around us is the church at antioch was extremely serious about the presence of god and hearing from god now you see two times twice in three verses they worshipped prayed and fasted twice in three verses right so so what seems to be the priority at the church in antioch they want to be serious about hearing from god worshiping god praying to god listening to god and then that leads me to my third point which I’m not going to say yet so so let me um I think one of the things I just don’t know what to do with it yet I’m just so wrestling with the lord I think the lack of theological understanding around satan and demons is killing us I just think that we think paul was playing around or he didn’t really mean what he meant in ephesians 6 when he says hey we wrestle not we battle not against flesh and blood our fight is not against flesh and blood now the reason why I say I don’t think we actually believe that is because if you believed that we would be praying with force because you can’t organize against principalities and powers you can organize in prayer you can organize in fasting but you don’t build the right program to defeat the powers of darkness that have been around since god created the heavens but we don’t believe that’s way too spiritual for us and it shows just how much the outside plausibility structure has influenced the inside plausibility structure look you don’t battle against flesh and blood it’s not our wrestle it’s not our fight it’s principalities and powers in this present darkness that’s what the text says and this church believes it they believe it because all they’re doing is praying and fasting and worshiping I mean look at the text I’m not making this stuff up there after it here I love ian bounds quote this one again I’m gonna just start using some of the same quotes over and over and over again until I feel like it’s in our guts what the church needs today is not more machinery or better not new organizations or more in novel methods but men whom the holy ghost can use men of prayer men mighty in prayer the holy ghost does not flow through methods but through men he does not come on machinery but on men he does not anoint plans but men men of prayer and ladies you can hear that as humankind prayer is not just the job of men it’s the job of the church and yet I want to just I’m not trying to do a drive by guilty because you can’t win that way I you guys confuse the mess out of me on this one like right now if I said hey we have an urgent and diligent need down uh i-35 and we need 400 grand today let’s give you’d crush it we’d have an extra 100 grand it wouldn’t know if we was like hey friday night we’re going to do a forum on modern views of sexuality and how it fits into our biblical understanding there wouldn’t be a seat left let me call us to pray I’ll see the 100 of you that are serious that understand this I just don’t get it it shows me that we actually believe something other than we’re amending right now the war is won in the heavenlies not on the dry erase board thanks tony did you hear me and and gosh like think about that if you look back like I love this passage I know some people it freaks them out but I’m okay like we should be spiritual people daniel’s praying for the people of god so wants to return to jerusalem just pleading with the lord I mean just confessing sins that aren’t even his sins they’re confessing to other people’s sins and just asking for breakthrough asking for god to do something and then a couple of weeks later like this angel shows up but the angel’s like winded he’s like sorry daniel listen I got here as quick as I could just being straight with you on the flight over the prince of persia uh found me and man we duked it out man the dude was strong so I had to call in the archangel michael he showed up started beating him down and then I ran I got here to say your prayers have been heard and they’ve been answered now that’s a far cry from how we understand the world works we’re like oh we’ve got a problem here let’s whiteboard it do a swot analysis and there’s a space for swot analysis but man you ain’t punching the devil in the mouth with swot analysis if you’re getting tired of the day and age which we live I’m pleading with you pray join us in prayer show up and encounter pray when you gather in your home group if you’re like well I really love the bible praise god pray the bible right to pray the bible just open up the psalms start praying through a text gosh you need both because this church wanted the presence of god but they also wanted to hear from god now how do we hear from god will you hear from god first and foremost by being steeped in the word of god steeped in it now maybe you don’t drink tea so you don’t know what I’m talking about a mom drinks tea and and what happens to you this is dry crusty little bag and I’m like not how I drink it what let’s okay like just dry crusty little like no and then she’ll boil water and then she puts the water in the cup and then she steeps that tea bag and that tea bag comes to life right am I lying I mean it’s like dripping with water you can squeeze it it’s got a different smell it’s got like everything happens once it’s steeping in the water well listen the primary way that we hear and understand our god is by steeping in the word of god I want you to bleed it I want you to so often quote the word of god that people like around you’re like is he always going to is she always going to be yes you should always be like like the word says like the book says I want us to be people of the book and that means that we believe what the book says and the book says that that’s not the only way god intends to speak to us no don’t there’s not time for that the book says not the charismatic say the book says that’s not the only way that god speaks to his people he speaks through impressions he speaks through dreams he speaks through words of prophecy this is an apostolic command not suggestion and I don’t know who we are to go well I don’t think that we have to obey that like it’s written all these other apostolic commands we do but not this weirds me out a little bit no we steep in the word of god we tune our ears to hear a still small voice we let steeping in the word of god rebuke us often correct anything we thought we heard that’s out of step with the word of god and then we walk in a great deal of faith in your cog closets as a family through your neighborhoods at encounter space in your home group pray pray pray pray pray pray pray crazy prayers listen I always want to highlight this and I’ve got I’m already in trouble at our time but don’t um like if you will read the men in the bible pray it’ll wick you out a little bit how they talk to god like these really honest straightforward prayers like jeremiah you tricked me you ever been in a home group seeing a brother go off on god you tricked me you lied to me god tell me you wouldn’t scoot your chair over a little bit like a she-bear or lightning something’s coming that was jeremiah the word he used this patta it’s the hebrew word seduced you seduced me god you lied you wooed me like I was a weak-willed woman how dare you god I’m telling I’m I’m out I’m probably going to talk to that dude after I’m like hey come here man you can’t be talking about lord seducing you and homegroup brother like it’ll just free you up to not be so nervous about praying like god already knows what’s going on in your heart and your head you really think you’ve got to coach it in the right spiritual language for him I don’t think you’ll ever pray if you believe that if you’re always like oh I don’t don’t really know what to say that’s acceptable to him I must keep saying pray what you got man all day every day just pray what you got every time you feel frustrated every time you feel happy praise him every time you feel sad go to him this builds fortitude strength and robust spirituality let’s go come on and then here’s the last one this church for me like I love that it’s probably my personality type so I mean they man they’re just big risk takers here’s what I mean why I’ve always loved this passage they’re in prayer they’re worshiping I can only imagine it’s it’s happening I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a room where you’re like okay I’d like to not leave and I wish I had vocal folds that could go longer than I’m able to go right now I was just a passion in atlanta and man there was a worship set where kerry jobe and cody cars were singing the blessing and then this dude um from brazil in rio standing up like they were just singing in portuguese where fireworks were going off behind them with a statue of jesus back there and I was like I’d like to never leave here right like that peter on the mount of transfiguration can we just make some houses here right and so like in in all of that they’re praying their worship I can only imagine the thickness of god in the room and the spirit says aside paul and barnabas now here’s what I’m doing if I’m the lead pastor first baptist antioch I’m like gotcha have you considered my boy mataneya like I don’t know if you’re checking it out god but have you seen paul do a hospital visit like the man’s just telling sick people to stop being sick did you see him raise that dude from the dead I see men and I do why don’t you use mananaya I think your glory be made more visible by using that brother like paul the apostle paul handkerchief and apron heal people paul and barnabas I already said it barnum is like a human golden retriever he’s always got a great word for you just sees you he starts wow you’re like damn hey get down barnabas she stop he’s like no no I was praying for you through the wee hours in the morning and I just think the lord wants me to say this to you he sees you he loves you he’s for you you got this step into your desert god’s with you I know it’s hard he sees you I mean he’s just that guy oh it’s like steve harden on crack just if you don’t know who harden is some of you’ve been here with me a long time know exactly just a whirlwind of encouragement notification like half the time you’re like I don’t know what you’re saying but I love the lord more I mean that’s barnabas and the holy spirit’s going these two these two that have to be shaping your culture have to set them aside and send them out and the church at antioch prayed and fasted again and then they laid hands and sent them out I love this um a friend of mine is reading the hiding place corey ten boom if you haven’t read that I would just strongly encourage you to read that book it’ll build your faith corey’s sister in the book uh corey’s sister betsy says this to corey there are no ifs in god’s world and no places that are safer than other places the center of his will is our only safety let us pray then that we may always know it I love that like risk taking run into danger herald the good news of the gospel no matter what the price is that kind of risk I think we have to embrace it listen I do I look out on the horizon there’s scary stuff on the horizon but I keep saying this to you we’re built for it we’re built for it guys with this kind of access to the father fighting for this kind of harmony being willing to take steps of faith that’s all risk is biblically informed faith like what god might do how we might stand in contrast to the plausibility structures around us would blow our minds but all of these things will have to be fought for listen we live in a cynical and angry world I think you feel it it has seeped into the church and I want us to fight it this is me on the first sunday in 2021 asking you to come with us I don’t want to manage an organization I want to attack hell I’m tired of taking shots I want to throw some out and that means prayerfulness and that means fighting for harmony and that means the seriousness about the presence of god and that means great crazy stupendous that doesn’t make any sense kind of risks that we have lived by in our 18 years together I I’m I got to go I got to do it I mean I can I got to preach it I got to live it I got to invite you to come with me I got to fight you if you don’t I got I’m just I can’t I we so here let me end because gosh never mind I need to quit even acknowledging that it’s just making it longer he here if I could give you some homework if you’ve got bitterness and resentment in your heart towards anyone you really need to be serious about taking that to lord the hindrance on your own vitality is unbelievable if you struggle in prayer I’m just pleading with you learn how do I learn just get with people who pray or just pray all the time with people do you hear me get with people who pray all the time or pray all the time with people you can go either direction fumbling goofy awkward prayer is still prayer and god honors that kind of faith like you can do it the old way where you pray and squeeze the hand next to you and you go around the circle or or you can popcorn it and just shoot around the room or you like my favorites like everybody at it at the same time because god can hear all it’s not like I go easy god easy john was first let’s just get after the lord I mean do it in your community how you’re comfortable but but we need to be marked by prayerfulness and then what steps of faith is god asking you to take the frequency at which you brothers and sisters email me about the passions that god’s put on your heart for me to do is comical if I ever wrote a book it’d be the whole back half of it god gave you to do that like god put that on your heart