WEBVTT 00:00:04.549 --> 00:00:07.429 We start this new sermon series. If you get it, 00:00:07.450 --> 00:00:10.089 you get it. If not, that's okay. But we move 00:00:10.089 --> 00:00:13.890 now to the beginning of the book of Acts. And 00:00:13.890 --> 00:00:16.210 one of the things, as I crafted this sermon series, 00:00:16.309 --> 00:00:18.429 as the Holy Spirit was at work, one of the things 00:00:18.429 --> 00:00:22.489 we're going to set every sermon up with is just 00:00:22.489 --> 00:00:26.370 an oldie but a goodie hymn. And that is because 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:28.890 we find a lot of truth in our hymns. A lot of 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:32.009 our hymns are just wrought with Scripture and 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:35.039 with boldness. One of the things I love about 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:37.799 a good hymn, it's like a good cut of meat, right? 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:40.460 It's dense. There's a lot there. You feel very 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:44.380 full after you eat it. And we sang one of my 00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:46.659 favorites. Why? Well, because I'm the pastor 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:49.820 here. And it's an understanding of be thou my 00:00:49.820 --> 00:00:53.280 vision. What a beautiful hymn, right? But it's 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.299 a bold prayer. And I don't even know if you realize 00:00:56.299 --> 00:00:58.820 what you were praying. We didn't just sing a 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:04.129 nice song, but we asked God to reshape. Our sight. 00:01:05.709 --> 00:01:09.969 Think about that. We asked, we just, not begged, 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:12.769 but we sang to God, we pleaded to Him to give 00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:16.790 us vision, to give us His vision, His wisdom, 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:20.269 and His presence at the center of our lives. 00:01:20.950 --> 00:01:24.569 Think about that. For some of you, that might 00:01:24.569 --> 00:01:27.310 make you uncomfortable because you love the way 00:01:27.310 --> 00:01:30.069 you see the world, you love the wisdom that you 00:01:30.069 --> 00:01:33.489 have, and you want to be the center of your life. 00:01:33.569 --> 00:01:35.450 Guess what? This is the start of the church, 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:38.290 and we're already calling it out that it is not 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:42.790 about you or me. It is not about elders or deacons. 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:47.030 It is not about ministries or ministers. It is 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:51.030 about God's vision, God's wisdom, and his presence. 00:01:51.090 --> 00:01:56.870 That apart from him, we can do nothing. Seven 00:01:56.870 --> 00:02:00.409 of you got it, right? That's exactly where the 00:02:00.409 --> 00:02:03.010 disciples found themselves in Acts chapter 1. 00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:05.969 We all think that the beginning of Acts comes 00:02:05.969 --> 00:02:09.710 with... The whoosh of the Holy Spirit and the 00:02:09.710 --> 00:02:12.449 flames on the head and what we call the day of 00:02:12.449 --> 00:02:15.629 Pentecost. It doesn't. Let's dive in. The first 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:18.949 eight verses of chapter one of the book of Acts. 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:21.430 And again, just mind you, I have never preached 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:25.349 through this in 20 years. I am so excited. And 00:02:25.349 --> 00:02:27.389 Lisa, hopefully you're okay with Lighthouse starting 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:31.360 at noon. In the first book. O Theophilus, I have 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.500 dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.639 until the day when he was taken up, after he 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.060 had given commands through the Holy Spirit to 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:44.379 the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented 00:02:44.379 --> 00:02:47.259 himself alive to them after his suffering by 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:50.280 many proofs, remember that word, appearing to 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.099 them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.280 of God. And while staying with them, he ordered 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:59.419 them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait 00:02:59.419 --> 00:03:02.080 for the promise of the Father, which he said, 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:05.300 You heard from me. For John baptized with water, 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.240 but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:11.919 not many days from now. So when they had come 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:15.699 together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:19.120 time restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.039 them, It is not for you to know the times or 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:26.319 seasons that the Lord has fixed by his own authority. 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:29.099 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:03:29.099 --> 00:03:31.939 has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:35.800 in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and the 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:42.900 ends of the earth. It's exactly where the disciples 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:45.340 found themselves, what we just talked about in 00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:47.819 Acts in the beginning. Jesus had risen. He'd 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:52.000 spent 40 days. And I don't want to just go by 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.099 that, Jesus rising from the dead, because that's 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.379 the greatest thing the world's ever seen, right? 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.120 And it really has impacted all of us. It's why 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.819 we're here. And if you're not here knowing that, 00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:05.139 let's have that conversation. I would love to 00:04:05.139 --> 00:04:06.580 sit down and have a cup of coffee with you and 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:09.710 talk about that. But he spent 40 days teaching 00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:13.409 them about the kingdom of God. Now fully established 00:04:13.409 --> 00:04:16.730 with Christ's death and resurrection. But then, 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:21.370 gone. He ascends. The one who had been their 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:23.629 leader, had been their rabbi, had been their 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:28.810 teacher, their anchor, is now out of sight. It's 00:04:28.810 --> 00:04:30.629 one of the reasons why it's so powerful when 00:04:30.629 --> 00:04:33.370 John talks about, you believe because you have 00:04:33.370 --> 00:04:36.660 seen. But blessed are those who believe when 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:40.379 they don't see, meaning it takes faith in the 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:43.819 word of testimony. But now they're standing at 00:04:43.819 --> 00:04:46.079 the Mount of Olives, looking up, probably wondering, 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.579 what now? Who's leading us? Where do we even 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:55.800 go from here? And I think we all know that feeling. 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:58.319 I think we all know that feeling, you know, maybe 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.259 in times in life when we feel a little lost or, 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.000 you know, we've been following maybe a project 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.699 manager and then all of a sudden the project's 00:05:04.699 --> 00:05:06.980 over and you're kind of, for some of you, you 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:08.360 want to go, how many of you just want to get 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:10.519 right back into the next project? Raise your 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:14.300 hand. Yikes. How many of you just want to take 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.379 a day or two off? Wow, some of you actually rose 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:20.639 your hand. Okay. But we find them, you know, 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:22.579 the disciples found themselves in a very weird 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:25.540 place and it wasn't just them. It was more than 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:29.279 just the 12. Well, it was 11. And then those 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:33.000 that have been added on. But when leaders move 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.860 on, when seasons change, when life feels uncertain, 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:42.120 it can feel like the ground is shifting. And 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:43.439 I don't know about you, but I'm feeling that 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:46.060 about Munster Church. I'm feeling that about 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:49.379 the mission and vision of 214 Ridge Road as I 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.120 pitch. Maybe that's the wrong word, as I walk 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:54.860 through some ideas for a new mission and vision 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.360 for our church with our admin council this week, 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.959 or in two weeks. I am so excited, but part of 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:03.959 me wants to throw up as well, because I put a 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.959 lot into this, because I love all of you, and 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.439 I want us to all be going the same direction. 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:11.939 And remember, it's not that the bounds of the 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:14.040 river are this big. They're wide, and we all 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:17.060 have a chance to play and dance in what God is 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:22.629 doing here at 214 Ridge Road. But just as the 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.509 ground is unstable for the disciples, change 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:29.329 is scary. I could ask you how many of you love 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:31.970 change and ask you to raise your hands, but you 00:06:31.970 --> 00:06:35.050 probably won't. But a lot of us don't. We don't 00:06:35.050 --> 00:06:37.750 like change. The now what, the what do we do 00:06:37.750 --> 00:06:41.470 now can really plague us and it can keep us kind 00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:45.370 of frozen. Maybe for some of us we scramble for 00:06:45.370 --> 00:06:50.180 stability or security or direction. But Jesus 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:52.019 doesn't leave his church without guidance. He 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:57.060 gives them and us a vision. This is visionary. 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.480 This is what the church is going to be doing. 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.480 We have had for years kind of the mission and 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.139 vision of this church has kind of been combined 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:11.899 in loving God and loving people. Or loving God, 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:14.579 loving people. Whether you have comma in there 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:16.500 or not, that's kind of been the mission and the 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:19.740 vision. And it's a good one. It's very biblical. 00:07:20.660 --> 00:07:23.980 But Jesus is giving them a specific vision. He's 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:27.339 telling them you will receive power when the 00:07:27.339 --> 00:07:29.839 Holy Spirit comes to you. and you will be my 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:34.800 witnesses to the ends of the earth. That should 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.139 be so important to us that that is our jobs. 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.600 Notice, it doesn't mean you need to be a catechism 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:44.779 know -it -all. It doesn't mean you need to be 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:47.819 in that emotional testimony globbing all over 00:07:47.819 --> 00:07:49.819 people. It doesn't mean that we do the drive 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:52.779 -by evangelism where we go in, beat people up 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:55.480 with the gospel, and flee. No, all we are called 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.779 to do, all the church is called to be, is witnesses 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:04.439 to Jesus, witnesses of your testimony, of my 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.600 testimony. What is a testimony? It's your life 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.879 before the cross and now your life after the 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.699 cross when you profess Jesus is Lord and Savior. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.699 The Belgian Confession, Article 27, reminds us 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:19.959 why vision matters. The church is not something 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:24.810 we invented. pews, chairs, organ, guitar, it's 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:27.230 not what we invented. Sorry if that just triggered 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:29.449 half of you. And it's not something that depends 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:34.009 on human strength. It's the work of Christ himself 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:37.450 who gathers and preserves his people through 00:08:37.450 --> 00:08:42.750 the Spirit. He is our foundation. So as we move 00:08:42.750 --> 00:08:46.389 from singing, Be Thou My Vision, into this text, 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:49.850 the question I have for you. Munster Church, 00:08:49.990 --> 00:08:53.190 from me, Pastor Jim, as we start this book of 00:08:53.190 --> 00:08:58.629 Acts, what is our vision? Is it our own preferences, 00:08:58.889 --> 00:09:03.049 our own plans, our own comfort, or is it Christ 00:09:03.049 --> 00:09:08.889 himself? I wrote this sermon series, and Mike, 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:10.730 even though he's on vacation this week, Mike 00:09:10.730 --> 00:09:12.549 can attest to it. I wrote this sermon series 00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:15.509 before we had any building plans, just so you 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:18.720 know. This is not a tie to potentially having 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.139 a meeting about the new building in the coming 00:09:21.139 --> 00:09:25.100 months. But what is the vision of Munster Church? 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.779 Because when Christ is our vision, then our calling 00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:31.539 as a church becomes clear. And the book of Acts, 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:34.740 how it starts, really has been the foundation 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:38.799 for how I'm seeing this vision rise up for all 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:43.879 of us here at 214 Ridge Road. The heartbeat of 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.000 Christ should be our heartbeat. As well. For 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.679 his people. And we are called. We're called to 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.779 four very specific things. We see it in the book 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:57.720 of Acts. They greet one another. They gather 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.379 together. They grow with the Holy Spirit. And 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.600 then they go out to the ends of the earth. You're 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.019 going to hear that a lot. It may get annoying. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:10.639 I love you, but I don't care. So let's dive into 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.340 the text a little bit. Verses 1 and 2, as we 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:16.340 go through the start of chapter 1 through chapter 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:19.059 8 over the coming months, we're going to see 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:23.899 the continuation of Christ's work. Luke begins 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:27.259 in this first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:30.759 with all that Jesus began to do and teach. Key 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:36.200 word there, began. His ministry didn't end at 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:40.519 the cross or even at the resurrection. The wages 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:44.360 of sin changed. Because the wages of sin was 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:49.000 what? Death. Now, because of Christ's death and 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:52.799 resurrection, it doesn't have to be. Those of 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:56.620 us in Christ, death is not the final say. Oh, 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:58.779 death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:02.519 is your sting? Thanks be to God, because we have 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:06.639 salvation in Christ. Jesus' ministry didn't end 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:08.580 at the cross or even at the resurrection. It 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:12.299 continues through the church by the what? Who's 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:17.820 going to be doing the leading now? Thank you, 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.100 I knew you'd get that, right? The Holy Spirit, 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.559 the paracletos, as John calls it, the advocate, 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:26.539 the Holy Spirit is the one guiding the church. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:28.740 Why do you think I'm big on spiritual gifts? 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.980 Because spiritual gifts helps you in your profession. 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:35.240 No, though it might, it first and foremost leads 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.940 the church. The spirits of God, the gifts of 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:43.629 God from the Spirit lead the church. Those with 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:45.549 shepherding gifts, let them shepherd. Those with 00:11:45.549 --> 00:11:48.049 teaching gifts, let them teach. Those with cooking 00:11:48.049 --> 00:11:52.669 gifts, Jim, let's out us cook. Right? We all 00:11:52.669 --> 00:11:56.330 have gifts. We are called to use them first and 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:59.129 foremost in the church. The Belgian Confession, 00:11:59.169 --> 00:12:01.730 Article 27, the Holy Church is not confined, 00:12:02.210 --> 00:12:05.990 bound, or limited to a certain place or certain 00:12:05.990 --> 00:12:09.570 persons, but it is spread and dispersed throughout 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:13.039 the entire world. Jesus is still at work through 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.940 his church today. How do we know that? Let's 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:20.539 just for a second look at us. During coffee hour, 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:22.840 go and look at the history board. This church 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:24.759 has been through a lot. It's still the church. 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:31.159 Not all churches last forever. When I say that, 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.000 a class of silly animators, people throw things 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.799 at me, right? Because some of us get so tied 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.059 to our brick and mortar, so tied to our name, 00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:40.620 so tied to the one or two things we're doing 00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:44.059 as a church, we can never let it die. You didn't 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:46.899 breathe life into it anyway. It is not your call 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:49.539 whether it lives or dies. The faithfulness of 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:52.899 God's people is something that God keeps track 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:56.159 of, absolutely. A church that's not doing anything, 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:59.039 as we see in the book of Revelation, gets snuffed 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:03.179 out like a wick. False teaching, heresy, hurting 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:07.820 people. The church has never been or bound or 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:11.759 confined by us. It's always been by the Spirit 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.820 of God. It's always been Jesus at the helm. And 00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:19.600 it's based on proof. There are people in my life 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:22.100 that think the church is a joke. Some of them 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:26.190 are in my family. And again, it's not awkward. 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:28.990 We don't walk on eggshells around it. We talk 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:33.690 about it honestly. I have proof. You have proof 00:13:33.690 --> 00:13:37.330 that Jesus exists. We have proof historically, 00:13:37.649 --> 00:13:40.409 theologically, throughout time that the church 00:13:40.409 --> 00:13:44.970 drives that, but the church is also broken, but 00:13:44.970 --> 00:13:49.519 that every one of us has jobs to do. Proof of 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:53.039 the resurrection in verse 3. I love how Theophilus 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.759 doubles down on this because it's so important. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:00.179 For 40 days, Jesus gave many convincing proofs 00:14:00.179 --> 00:14:03.220 that he was alive. Christianity is not built, 00:14:03.299 --> 00:14:04.820 even though at this point it was called the way. 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:07.659 Christianity doesn't really get claimed for a 00:14:07.659 --> 00:14:09.720 couple more hundred years. It's not built on 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:13.419 myth or wishful thinking, but on historical bodily 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:18.639 resurrection. That's a big point. We don't believe 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.360 in fairy tales. We don't believe in what the 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.179 world thinks God is and all the things that they 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:27.399 think about him. We believe in the bodily resurrection 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:30.820 of Christ. If you don't believe in the bodily 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:33.159 resurrection of Christ, then you are not part 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:35.220 of the church. You should not have taken communion 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:39.700 because you are not a believer. The church had 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:43.460 these people all come together. Now, pause. That 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:45.220 was an aggressive statement. I get it, but it's 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:49.210 true. You may You may not have all the, you may, 00:14:49.230 --> 00:14:53.649 I just got to take it on faith. That's how we 00:14:53.649 --> 00:14:57.409 all do it. We all have to take it on faith. But 00:14:57.409 --> 00:15:00.049 that is, Paul makes that very clear in his epistles, 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:02.289 that if you don't believe in the bodily resurrection, 00:15:02.710 --> 00:15:06.690 then you don't have belief. You believe in something 00:15:06.690 --> 00:15:10.049 different. Christianity is not built on myth, 00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:14.129 wishful thinking, the stars are a crystal ball. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.620 but historical bodily resurrection. The Heidelberg 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:20.379 Catechism, question answer 45. Christ's resurrection 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:24.419 means we are made right with God, raised to new 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:27.679 life, and guaranteed of our future resurrection. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.879 This is the rock on which the church stands. 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:38.799 Jesus is alive. First and foremost, Jesus is 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.490 alive. And he promises something. And this is 00:15:42.490 --> 00:15:45.129 where I wish Theophilus would have said more 00:15:45.129 --> 00:15:47.909 about that conversation, because we still had 00:15:47.909 --> 00:15:51.350 doubting time, even though Thomas did see the 00:15:51.350 --> 00:15:52.809 Lord and all that, but you still have him in 00:15:52.809 --> 00:15:54.789 the room, you still have Peter in the room, Judas 00:15:54.789 --> 00:15:57.110 not so much, but you still had all of the disciples 00:15:57.110 --> 00:16:00.330 that have fled, but they hear now this promise 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:02.950 of the Holy Spirit. Jesus commands them to wait 00:16:02.950 --> 00:16:08.470 for the promise of the Father. They were not 00:16:08.470 --> 00:16:10.289 going to be allowed to do this on their own strength. 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:14.000 I think about that and go, what if they would 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:17.600 have just started that day? And Jesus says, wait. 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:22.500 The Holy Spirit's coming. You're going to be 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:25.580 directed how to do this. What does this mean? 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:27.899 We don't have to make it up. We don't have to 00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:29.440 do it on our own accord. We don't have to do 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.750 it on our own strength. Belgian Confession, Article 00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:37.529 27, the church is gathered, protected, and preserved 00:16:37.529 --> 00:16:43.289 by Jesus Christ through his spirit and his word. 00:16:44.429 --> 00:16:47.450 Without the spirit, without his word, church 00:16:47.450 --> 00:16:51.070 is just another human organization. It is just 00:16:51.070 --> 00:16:54.169 another non -for -profit. That's what makes the 00:16:54.169 --> 00:16:57.990 church different. Christ's spirit, right? The 00:16:57.990 --> 00:17:02.679 Holy Spirit and God's word. And right off the 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.460 bat, what is Jesus doing? Oh, and we struggle 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:07.539 with this all the time. Struggle with it even 00:17:07.539 --> 00:17:10.720 in this week. That we are a group of people, 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:13.299 200 -some households, whether you're a widow 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:17.799 or you have a family of 12 -ish, we come with 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.559 our own expectations. You wake up with expectations. 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.700 Whether you know it or not, you do. You wake 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:26.759 up with expectations of how your day is going 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:30.000 to go. And some of you type A super planners, 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:33.809 Anybody? Yeah, half of you are lying so bad. 00:17:34.670 --> 00:17:37.470 Right? But you're type A super planners. You 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:40.569 go exactly what your Google calendar tells you 00:17:40.569 --> 00:17:44.150 or whatever calendar you use. People in the church, 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:46.569 they're human. Right? We're fallible. We're sinners. 00:17:46.690 --> 00:17:48.930 We're going to come with our own junk. And some 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:51.789 of that is our own expectations and our own agendas. 00:17:52.369 --> 00:17:53.990 That's going to get called out in a couple weeks. 00:17:54.490 --> 00:17:57.910 But verses 6 and 7 corrects expectations. I love 00:17:57.910 --> 00:17:59.750 this. The start of the church, it's right there. 00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:03.279 It is right there. The disciples still ask, will 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.079 you now restore the kingdom of Israel? They still 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.880 don't get it. But they were not made to get it 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.500 yet. Because guess what? If they would have had 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:14.420 it all figured out, I don't think they would 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:17.200 have actually gone. I think they would have looked 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.240 at the road and said, it is too hard. Because 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.759 they were trying to do it on their own strength, 00:18:21.819 --> 00:18:25.660 their own volition. They're still thinking politically. 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:29.319 They're still thinking nationally. Then Jesus 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:31.779 redirects them. The kingdom is not a political 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:35.440 project. It's not about Israel's borders or Rome's 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.460 downfall. It's about the reign of Christ through 00:18:39.460 --> 00:18:42.440 what? His people. Not through brick and mortar. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.119 Not through canvas, tents, whatever they had 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:50.940 in the first century. It's about the reign of 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:53.819 Christ. It's submitting to his lordship. You 00:18:53.819 --> 00:18:57.099 can't come to the table today. If you did not 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:01.299 submit your life to Christ's lordship. If some 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:02.960 of you just got tense because you don't know 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:05.019 if you've done that, if you profess Jesus as 00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:07.900 Lord and Savior, then you have to submit to his 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:10.220 lordship. If not, you're going to be in great 00:19:10.220 --> 00:19:13.279 tension, my friends. The Belgian Confession Article 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:16.619 36 reminds us that Christ's kingdom is spiritual. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:20.279 It's not tied to earthly governments or cultural 00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:24.769 victories or brick and mortar or blacktop. but 00:19:24.769 --> 00:19:30.009 rooted in the reign of Christ. I'm sorry, no 00:19:30.009 --> 00:19:34.029 one ever looked at brick, mortar, or blacktop, 00:19:34.089 --> 00:19:38.369 sorry, site services, and said, my Jesus is real. 00:19:39.910 --> 00:19:42.730 They say that when they see the testimony and 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:47.569 witness of your life in my life. And now comes 00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:49.609 the vision. Oh, I love this, and then I'll start 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:53.119 the sermon. The vision. You will receive power 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.539 when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will 00:19:56.539 --> 00:20:01.839 be my witnesses. Oh, we don't like this. Oh, 00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:05.500 we really don't. It's not you might be or on 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:10.859 a good day or on Sunday. Nope. Not try to be. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:15.119 Swing and a miss. That would be me. You will 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:22.569 be. And notice the scope. I love this. Jerusalem. 00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:25.329 Let's just do it here. Again, this is Jerusalem 00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:29.910 back then. 214 Ridge Road. Then Northwest Indiana. 00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:34.190 Then Chicagoland, Samaria. I think that fits. 00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:41.509 But then the United States or the Midwest. Then 00:20:41.509 --> 00:20:43.869 the globe. Why do you think we do global missions? 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:47.480 And we hope that our mission relationships, we 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.119 can go and be hands and feet with them. But that's 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:53.099 why we support them. That's why we try. That's 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:56.380 why we try to be missional in the here, the ridge 00:20:56.380 --> 00:21:00.599 roads of our lives. Your schools, public, private, 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:04.920 or home. Your work, whatever it is. That is the 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:07.880 scope expanding. Jerusalem, right where you are. 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.480 Judea and Samaria, the nearby even uncomfortable 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.779 places. He hasn't stopped there. The ends of 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:18.940 the earth. We're going to hear a story in a couple 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:22.559 weeks maybe of one of us from our own who is 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.720 feeling the tension and the call to go to what 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.980 really is the ends of the earth in mission. I'll 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:32.059 just leave that dangling carrot there. The church, 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.740 this is the church, what I called Catholicity, 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.859 right? So when we said it in the Apostles' Creed, 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:43.799 we believe in the holy. Catholic Church. Notice 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:47.859 small C, not big C. This isn't St. Anne's. This 00:21:47.859 --> 00:21:51.859 is the Church Universal. Every other time we 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:53.400 have communion, I usually get a text or an email 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:54.799 about it. Let's just set the record straight. 00:21:54.980 --> 00:21:57.559 This is about the Church Universal. The Catholic 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.680 Church. Church Universal. Not Catholic denomination. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.880 The Holy Church is spread and dispersed throughout 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:11.000 the entire world. Alright, so these are the first 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:14.960 eight verses. Friends, lock it in. This is just 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.619 the beginning. So where do we go from here? What 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.640 do we do with this? This vision that God gives 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:25.880 us. First and foremost, we need to wait at times 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:32.059 for tariffs. No. We need to wait on God's Spirit. 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.880 And we can engage that thinking that you're more 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.339 spiritually attuned than your neighbor. or you're 00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:41.420 more spiritually tuned than your elder or your 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:44.380 deacon. If the Holy Spirit is the one moving 00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:48.220 all of this, he's moving the church as a corporate 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:52.740 body. In Acts, he does give ways that we govern 00:22:52.740 --> 00:22:54.940 the body and we order the body. Why? Because 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:57.440 God is not a God of chaos. He's a God of order. 00:22:57.640 --> 00:22:59.900 That should be a warm blanket on a cold night 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:02.180 when you look at the state of the world. Because 00:23:02.180 --> 00:23:04.059 that is the definition of God's sovereignty. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.440 We need to wait on God's Spirit. If God is sovereign, 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:12.000 if His Son is sovereign, guess what? His Spirit 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.200 is sovereign. We live in a culture that hates 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:21.640 waiting. Amazon promises us, like within hours 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.160 of delivering, right? Man, is that not going 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.220 to be the tool of the Antichrist. I don't know. 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.319 Maybe it is. But they promise next day delivery. 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:35.740 Phones give us instant answers. When all of a 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:38.700 sudden your network goes down, you fall apart. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:43.500 Man, that early Churchill, they dealt with all 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:46.019 that stuff too, right? Networks down and Amazon, 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.420 no. They were like, no, we're just going to sell 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:51.599 all of our stuff and we're just going to do this 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:56.420 together. We even microwave coffee instead of 00:23:56.420 --> 00:24:01.980 brewing it. What a shame. And disgusting. But 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:05.799 Jesus tells his disciples, do not move. Do not 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:09.779 pass go. Do not collect 200 denarii until the 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:14.839 Holy Spirit comes. What is he telling us? You, 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:18.960 me, Munster Church, Faith Church, First Church. 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:22.839 Wow, those are, man. We got to get to those Lutheran 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:24.740 churches, right? Good shepherd, Jesse, right? 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.640 We get some of that meat of those. Munster Church. 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:30.660 We're not doing the ministries on ourselves. 00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.859 We're not building it. The Holy Spirit is building 00:24:33.859 --> 00:24:38.359 it. We don't build ministries. We don't make 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:41.140 decisions. We don't run ahead without prayerful 00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:45.180 dependence on the Holy Spirit. And I know I just 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:48.079 ticked off half of you because you don't like 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:51.880 to wait. I think this building project has shown 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:55.960 us that sometimes we need to wait. Amen, Paul? 00:24:56.579 --> 00:25:02.710 Amen. The church belongs to Christ. Sometimes 00:25:02.710 --> 00:25:04.930 we act like the church rises and falls on our 00:25:04.930 --> 00:25:08.069 programs, our planning, our preferences, having 00:25:08.069 --> 00:25:11.069 the right people in place. But the Belgic Confession 00:25:11.069 --> 00:25:13.430 puts it right here this morning. The church is 00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:17.390 preserved by Christ's hands himself. He may call 00:25:17.390 --> 00:25:19.289 us. I don't think he is. But he may call and 00:25:19.289 --> 00:25:21.630 say, get rid of Lighthouse. Get rid of youth 00:25:21.630 --> 00:25:23.950 ministry. Get rid of the nursery. Your kids are 00:25:23.950 --> 00:25:27.049 going to have to sit with you in church. And 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:28.970 if he's the one that's calling it, again, I said 00:25:28.970 --> 00:25:33.329 I don't think he is here. Calm down. But if God's 00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:34.910 going to call it, if he's going to bring us to 00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:37.029 it, guys, I've said it before. I'll say it again. 00:25:37.150 --> 00:25:41.430 A God that brings you to it is a, the same seven 00:25:41.430 --> 00:25:42.990 people from the beginning. You're still awake. 00:25:43.069 --> 00:25:45.309 Thank you. Right? The God that brings us to it 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:48.309 is a God that brings us through it. And he may 00:25:48.309 --> 00:25:50.450 call the church to do some crazy things. How 00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:53.789 do we know? It's in the book of Acts. There's 00:25:53.789 --> 00:25:57.319 a history there. Think of the global church today. 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:01.039 In Iran, house churches are thriving under persecution. 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.579 In China, Christians are gathering underground 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:09.200 for fear of persecution. In Africa, the gospel 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:12.460 is spreading rapidly because of the power of 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:16.400 God's word and the power of witness. Christ is 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:19.460 building his church even when we don't see it. 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:23.529 And I don't think we have... The same issues 00:26:23.529 --> 00:26:27.450 as those underground churches. Oh, all the kids 00:26:27.450 --> 00:26:29.890 hang out by the bathrooms. That's weird. We shouldn't 00:26:29.890 --> 00:26:34.089 be a church. No. But parents, just watch, because 00:26:34.089 --> 00:26:35.730 a lot of kids do hang out by the bathrooms, and 00:26:35.730 --> 00:26:40.250 it is weird. But we can make all of these little 00:26:40.250 --> 00:26:43.150 molehills of our preferences mountains for the 00:26:43.150 --> 00:26:46.509 kingdom, and they're not. They never have been. 00:26:46.529 --> 00:26:48.670 Guess what? You and I are not important to let 00:26:48.670 --> 00:26:51.289 those will -be problems. That will never happen. 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:53.859 Though we can make it that way. We can trip up. 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:57.000 Council room, committee room, lighthouse room, 00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:58.799 youth group room. We're going to make mistakes. 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:04.980 But Jesus is the one that is preserving it. I 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:06.859 love how Jesus starts with Jerusalem because 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:09.779 he's basically saying, witness starts at home 00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:13.819 first. For us, that means start where you are. 00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:17.750 The family God has put you in, the job that you 00:27:17.750 --> 00:27:20.450 have been called to, your school, your classroom, 00:27:20.650 --> 00:27:23.509 your homeroom, your gym teacher, whoever it is 00:27:23.509 --> 00:27:26.849 that God has brought you there, it is so freeing 00:27:26.849 --> 00:27:29.569 to say a sovereign God has set my life the way 00:27:29.569 --> 00:27:31.849 it is now. And for some of us, we go, ooh, but 00:27:31.849 --> 00:27:33.549 that hurts because I don't like my life right 00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:36.650 now. God's going to preserve you. That's one 00:27:36.650 --> 00:27:39.049 thing we get in the first eight verses of the 00:27:39.049 --> 00:27:44.299 book of Acts. Your neighborhood. We prayed for 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.599 the annoying neighbor down the street. Maybe 00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:48.480 they're praying for you because you're the annoying 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.819 neighbor down the street. Check your heart. That 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:56.700 people need to hear the witness and see the witness 00:27:56.700 --> 00:28:00.119 of Christ in us. Sometimes we talk about missions 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:02.759 as if it's only happening overseas. It's one 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:04.880 thing I love about this church. I'm not going 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.859 to lie. In the call process over seven years 00:28:06.859 --> 00:28:11.109 ago now. One of the things I loved is the desire 00:28:11.109 --> 00:28:14.569 of this church to get missional locally. I thought 00:28:14.569 --> 00:28:17.890 it was great because CRCs aren't good at that. 00:28:18.430 --> 00:28:21.490 Because a lot of times CRCs is kind of our own 00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:24.950 group, our own little clan. No, it's about the 00:28:24.950 --> 00:28:27.069 outreach. I look out and see people that are 00:28:27.069 --> 00:28:29.130 part of this church because of that outreach, 00:28:29.349 --> 00:28:33.769 because of that mindset. But mission starts in 00:28:33.769 --> 00:28:37.089 your home, in your street, in your town first. 00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:40.140 That's what he's telling the church, the start 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:43.420 of the church. And all throughout, and some of 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:45.180 you are going to get exhausted by this as I am, 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:46.779 but it's going to challenge our expectations. 00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:50.299 The disciples wanted Jesus to overthrow Rome. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:53.420 They were like, okay, you did all the sin things. 00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:57.799 Now do the battle. Like, oh my word, you missed 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:02.660 it. They wanted Jesus to overthrow Rome. We often 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:08.750 want Jesus to fix our version of the world. Jesus 00:29:08.750 --> 00:29:12.309 come and fix our politics, fix our discomfort, 00:29:12.509 --> 00:29:19.990 our finances, our reputations. We miss it. If 00:29:19.990 --> 00:29:21.750 it's not about you, it's never going to be about 00:29:21.750 --> 00:29:24.470 that. It's going to be about Jesus' reign in 00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:27.869 the world. Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this 00:29:27.869 --> 00:29:31.369 world. Are you willing today to let him reshape 00:29:31.369 --> 00:29:35.130 your expectation, to lead us into places we wouldn't 00:29:35.130 --> 00:29:40.720 necessarily choose? Guess what? I am a 40 -year 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.240 -old fallible man. You all know this, right? 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:47.299 What I'm going to offer our council in a conversation 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:50.359 in a couple weeks is an idea of a way to kind 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:53.359 of revision what we're doing here. And one of 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:55.599 the main reasons why is because I think we're 00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:00.079 stuck in some areas of this church. I look at 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.720 our kid in our youth ministries and I go, wow. 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:07.759 I mean, we are doing right by the over 70. babies 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:10.400 that have been born in this church over the last 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:16.160 eight years. That's about right. At that point, 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:17.920 babies, I wish you all would have started crying. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:20.940 But some of you are seven now, and that's weird. 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:24.480 But understand, the growth of this church, we 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.180 are doing a great job of making sure our kids 00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:31.549 and our youth are being taught, have witnesses 00:30:31.549 --> 00:30:34.309 of adults teaching them. But then I look at our 00:30:34.309 --> 00:30:37.549 adult ministries, right? And as the chair of 00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:39.950 the Chris Ed Committee, I'm putting three mirrors 00:30:39.950 --> 00:30:45.390 on me first as the pastor of this church. We 00:30:45.390 --> 00:30:47.930 have some that are working. We have a lot that 00:30:47.930 --> 00:30:52.029 are not. Right now, we account in our adult ministries, 00:30:52.029 --> 00:30:57.069 we account for maybe... 12 % of our adults are 00:30:57.069 --> 00:30:59.329 studying God's word together or getting together 00:30:59.329 --> 00:31:01.950 in God's word week to week outside of Sunday 00:31:01.950 --> 00:31:07.970 morning and outside of council meetings. I want 00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:11.109 to get that to like 60 or 70%. And my good friend 00:31:11.109 --> 00:31:13.430 Joe is sitting right over there, right? And he 00:31:13.430 --> 00:31:16.049 is one of the leads of BSF that meets on Monday 00:31:16.049 --> 00:31:19.569 night starting tomorrow. Giddy up. You saw the 00:31:19.569 --> 00:31:22.450 video a couple weeks ago. Men, if you want to 00:31:22.450 --> 00:31:24.779 study the Bible, Joe, raise your hand. Wave it 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:27.220 like you just don't care. But he does. Come find 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:29.779 him. I can't believe he did it. But come find 00:31:29.779 --> 00:31:32.160 him. Talk to him. He'll be over here in the coffee 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:34.480 area. Men, if you want to study God's word, he 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.059 probably can help direct women to the studies 00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:41.180 that are around the area for that as well. Men 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:43.400 and women of the church, adults of the church, 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:46.180 we've got to get into God's word. We've got to 00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:49.119 start praying over our kids more. The church 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:51.200 can offer programs, but guess what? If no one 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:54.220 comes, that program doesn't go. So part of the 00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:57.400 vision is that we need to gather and grow together. 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:03.079 Because God might just be leading you into a 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:06.380 place you wouldn't choose. And you can go ahead 00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:08.680 and wrestle with him. You go right ahead. Let 00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:11.140 me know how that goes. Because one of the things 00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:13.920 that we're going to move on now with this understanding 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:16.259 from these eight verses is that Christ is our 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:21.589 vision. That hymn, we sang it. Be thou my vision, 00:32:21.710 --> 00:32:27.289 O Lord of my heart. In Acts 1, it's not a business 00:32:27.289 --> 00:32:31.410 plan. It's a vision plan. And that vision comes 00:32:31.410 --> 00:32:34.170 from Christ. If Christ is our vision, then our 00:32:34.170 --> 00:32:37.829 church's mission isn't to build a brand, but 00:32:37.829 --> 00:32:43.069 to be a faithful witness to him. You see... The 00:32:43.069 --> 00:32:45.589 be thou our vision thing, kind of that idea, 00:32:45.789 --> 00:32:47.710 it's going to take us through the sermon series. 00:32:48.130 --> 00:32:50.410 The disciples looked at Jesus and wanted him 00:32:50.410 --> 00:32:54.069 to act on their vision. It doesn't work that 00:32:54.069 --> 00:32:56.930 way. They wanted Israel's restoration. They wanted 00:32:56.930 --> 00:32:59.509 Rome overthrown. But Jesus looks back and gives 00:32:59.509 --> 00:33:04.430 them his vision, a spirit -empowered church sent 00:33:04.430 --> 00:33:07.710 to the ends of Ridge Road, whether it's blocked 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:12.160 or not, to the ends of the earth. And he promises 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:16.920 us we will never go alone. Munster Church, our 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:19.140 vision is not about maintaining traditions for 00:33:19.140 --> 00:33:22.740 their own sake. Believe me, I love that we stand 00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:26.799 on a century and five decades with five extra 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:28.559 years. I think that math's right, right Dan? 00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:32.819 Yep. Of good things that have been done. But 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:35.559 we also stand on bad things that were done. We 00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:39.940 also stand on strikeouts as a church. So we will 00:33:39.940 --> 00:33:43.000 stand on the good things. We will maintain what 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:46.039 God calls us to maintain. But we're also not 00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:48.240 going to chase after the world's instantaneous 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:52.660 whatever for the church. That instantaneous success. 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:55.799 Our vision is Christ himself. The risen Lord 00:33:55.799 --> 00:33:58.960 calls us to witness in the power of the Spirit. 00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:03.079 And here I land the plane. So when Christ is 00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:05.740 our vision, whether you're a part of our church 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:10.940 or not, The path forward becomes clear. One beautiful 00:34:10.940 --> 00:34:13.780 thing that I love about this church is that we 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:17.539 are a greeting church. Karen and I saw that when 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:21.659 we came over seven years ago to kind of an incognito 00:34:21.659 --> 00:34:24.000 dinner that you guys put out on the parking lot. 00:34:24.420 --> 00:34:27.500 We were greeted like crazy, and I don't think 00:34:27.500 --> 00:34:29.780 anyone knew that we were in the conversation 00:34:29.780 --> 00:34:33.829 about becoming your next pastor. But this church 00:34:33.829 --> 00:34:37.530 greets. We hear it time and time again. And it's 00:34:37.530 --> 00:34:43.389 not just Doug. You all do it. We start and begin 00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:46.690 with our own Jerusalem, welcoming our neighbors 00:34:46.690 --> 00:34:50.750 and friends with gospel intentionality. We do 00:34:50.750 --> 00:34:54.570 it because we're called to do it. We gather together 00:34:54.570 --> 00:34:57.030 on Sunday mornings and hopefully moving forward, 00:34:57.110 --> 00:34:59.530 we all be gathering one or two other times during 00:34:59.530 --> 00:35:02.269 the week. And I know some of you just got freaked 00:35:02.269 --> 00:35:05.250 out because you go, how in the world can my family 00:35:05.250 --> 00:35:07.789 schedule another meeting or two with all our 00:35:07.789 --> 00:35:10.530 other meetings or twos or threes or responsibilities? 00:35:11.389 --> 00:35:14.670 God will preserve a way. But the uncomfortable 00:35:14.670 --> 00:35:17.190 thing is, he might ask you to drop a couple things. 00:35:18.070 --> 00:35:21.190 But that's between you and the Lord. We will 00:35:21.190 --> 00:35:23.469 gather, just as the disciples did for prayer 00:35:23.469 --> 00:35:25.989 and worship, anchored on the apostles' teaching, 00:35:26.150 --> 00:35:29.710 the breaking of bread in our homes, at the coffee 00:35:29.710 --> 00:35:32.829 shops, at the bars, at wherever God is calling 00:35:32.829 --> 00:35:36.730 us to go, and we will grow together, allowing 00:35:36.730 --> 00:35:39.710 the Spirit to deepen our faith and transform 00:35:39.710 --> 00:35:44.309 us to the likeness of Christ. The Belgian Confession, 00:35:44.349 --> 00:35:47.170 Article 27, reminds us that the church is sanctified 00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:51.170 by the Spirit, and then we will go. not only 00:35:51.170 --> 00:35:53.829 to Munster, not only to Northwest Indiana, but 00:35:53.829 --> 00:35:55.550 to the ends of the earth, carrying the good news 00:35:55.550 --> 00:36:00.170 of our risen King. So, the question before us 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:02.550 is this mission of the book of Acts is before 00:36:02.550 --> 00:36:07.210 us. The question is simple for this series. Who 00:36:07.210 --> 00:36:11.889 is your vision? Is it your own kingdom, or is 00:36:11.889 --> 00:36:14.510 it Christ's? Is it your own comfort, or the cross 00:36:14.510 --> 00:36:18.429 of Jesus? The hymn we sang says it well. Be thou 00:36:18.429 --> 00:36:24.030 my vision, O Lord of our heart. Let's pray that 00:36:24.030 --> 00:36:26.750 as we step into this new season at Munster Church, 00:36:27.110 --> 00:36:30.670 the Spirit will make Jesus our vision, our wisdom, 00:36:30.730 --> 00:36:34.469 and our strength. So we can greet, gather, grow, 00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:40.690 and go for the glory of his name. Not ours, not 00:36:40.690 --> 00:36:44.889 Munster Church, but his. So please stand if you 00:36:44.889 --> 00:36:47.300 are able. And one of the things we're going to 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:48.780 do differently in this series, we're all going 00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:51.079 to close in prayer together. And then I'm going 00:36:51.079 --> 00:36:54.400 to give you the benediction. So let us pray together. 00:36:55.500 --> 00:37:00.320 Lord, be our vision. Forgive us for chasing after 00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:04.300 our own kingdoms. Open our eyes to see the risen 00:37:04.300 --> 00:37:08.360 Christ, to trust your spirit and follow your 00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:12.360 mission. Make Munster Church a light in our Jerusalem 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:16.480 and use us to carry your gospel, to the ends 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:17.940 of the earth. Amen.