WEBVTT 00:00:09.449 --> 00:00:14.289 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:16.589 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.769 --> 00:00:19.809 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:22.989 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:22.989 --> 00:00:27.210 you are through our website ecb .asia or our 00:00:27.210 --> 00:00:31.050 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.050 --> 00:00:35.670 by this week's sermon. I appreciate last week 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:38.369 Pastor Phil opened our series on the presence. 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:41.759 living life with the Holy Spirit by having us 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:46.380 meditate on the transforming presence and how 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.280 the Holy Spirit has kind of two time dimensions 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.719 in which he transforms us. One is instant. Sometimes 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:56.000 he'll say, I'm going to give you a gift right 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.359 now. You're different in this way. And most often 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.920 and throughout our lives, he lives in us and 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:07.859 takes us through the gradual process. of opening 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.459 more and more doors in our heart and letting 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:16.019 Him live there too. And today I would like to 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:19.959 take you, as we work through our theme verse, 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:25.239 let's read this together. Since we are living 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:28.959 the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.299 in every part of our lives. And last week we 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:35.859 focused on the individual work of the Holy Spirit. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.099 And I want to expand that from me to we. Because 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:42.840 all the personal pronouns up there are plural. 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:45.560 And the Holy Spirit doesn't just want to change 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.359 your heart. He wants to change the cultural norms, 00:01:48.500 --> 00:01:52.560 the group think, and the habits of the groups 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.700 you're a part of. Families, life groups, workplaces, 00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:59.620 schools. He wants to get in there and rearrange 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:04.239 the furniture. So we're going to practice a little 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.659 of that together. So as the lights come up a 00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:09.300 bit, I want you to turn to your neighbor and 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:13.120 make sure they know your name and find out what 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.599 city they were most recently in before they came 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.340 to Bangkok. I'll tell you why I'm doing this. 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:19.840 I'm an elementary teacher at heart. That is my 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.340 training. And there are going to be four or five 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:24.960 times throughout the sermon when you're going 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.039 to talk to each other. I want you to know who 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:29.520 you're talking to. Make sure you turn both ways 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:33.520 so nobody's left out. What's your name? What 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:38.479 city have you been in most recently? All right. 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:50.180 Let's wrap it up in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:56.900 2, and 1. And the choir director called the choir 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:03.520 back to your attention. Thank you. Wow, I can't 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:09.939 get them to stop. Thank you very much. That was 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:12.860 great. I saw people get up out of their seats 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:15.800 and move across the aisle to make sure nobody 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:21.689 was left out. The sermon has been preached. As 00:03:21.689 --> 00:03:25.349 we talk about the reconciling presence, I picked 00:03:25.349 --> 00:03:30.030 this passage because Acts is a book full of power 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:34.169 signs. It begins with Jesus physically rising 00:03:34.169 --> 00:03:38.830 up into the sky, stunning the apostles, and angels 00:03:38.830 --> 00:03:41.469 standing nearby saying, He's coming back the 00:03:41.469 --> 00:03:44.110 same way you saw Him go. It continues with the 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:48.860 Holy Spirit coming down and taking that... Power 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:51.159 of Jesus that had been packed into one individual 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:56.139 and now spreading it in sign of flame and wind 00:03:56.139 --> 00:04:00.520 and other languages and growing the church within 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:06.139 a day to 3 ,000. It continues with miracles and 00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:12.610 signs and healings and jailbreaks. And then you 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:15.229 come to this story, and it's normal, everyday, 00:04:15.629 --> 00:04:18.029 mundane, people cannot get along, and leadership 00:04:18.029 --> 00:04:20.209 has to do something about it, right where we 00:04:20.209 --> 00:04:24.350 all live. So I picked this one. I can relate. 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:29.829 Let me read you the story. From Acts chapter 00:04:29.829 --> 00:04:34.910 6. But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:38.379 were rumblings of discontent. The Greek -speaking 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:41.740 believers complained about the Hebrew -speaking 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:44.980 believers, saying that their widows were being 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:48.120 discriminated against in the daily distribution 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:54.220 of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:58.800 the believers. They said, we apostles should 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.639 spend our time teaching the Word of God, not 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.279 running a food program. And so, brothers, select 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:11.300 seven men who are well -respected and are full 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:16.819 of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:21.079 responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:27.899 time in prayer and teaching the Word. Everybody 00:05:27.899 --> 00:05:31.339 liked this idea. And they chose the following. 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:36.790 Stephen. A man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. 00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:42.649 Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, 00:05:42.649 --> 00:05:47.350 and Nicholas of Antioch, an earlier convert to 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:53.949 the Jewish faith. These seven were presented 00:05:53.949 --> 00:05:57.639 to the apostles who prayed for them. As they 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:01.759 laid their hands on them, so God's message continued 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.100 to spread. The number of believers greatly increased 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:08.240 in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.560 were converted too. One of my favorite ways to 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.680 look deeper into any story in Scripture is to 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.540 think of it like a movie producer. As this story 00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:25.379 goes, where do I have to change the camera? So 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:28.240 let's break this down into scenes. The story 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.980 begins, wide angle, all the believers increasing, 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:36.899 the church growing. The camera zooms in on one 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:39.600 particular group of the church that's complaining 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:43.240 against another group. The camera zooms in on 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.500 the leadership team to call everybody together. 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.730 Then the camera zooms out as everybody works 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:53.629 together to choose seven. And then the widest 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:57.189 angle again as the believers increase greatly. 00:06:58.129 --> 00:07:04.670 And priests began joining too. Now, do you see 00:07:04.670 --> 00:07:08.550 what I see? Look at the beginning. Look at the 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:14.050 end. This is one of those idea sandwiches. Believers 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:15.930 increasing at the beginning, believers increasing 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:19.529 at the end. The Hebrews loved idea sandwiches. 00:07:20.209 --> 00:07:22.569 And there's a technical name for it. It's called 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:25.709 chiasm. And it means there's something going 00:07:25.709 --> 00:07:28.610 on at the beginning and something at the end. 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:33.329 But at the end, it's slightly different. And 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:36.810 you can track the sandwich. It can have multiple 00:07:36.810 --> 00:07:39.610 layers. This is the simple version. I analyzed 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:43.439 the text and found there's actually eight. different 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:48.420 incidents or words moving towards the core of 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:51.220 the proposal, and every one of those eight is 00:07:51.220 --> 00:07:54.839 mirror -imaged in the opposite order as you exit 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.980 the story. But you don't want a 15 -point sermon. 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:06.060 So we're going to keep it simple. Chiasm is like 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:11.620 knock -knock jokes. Knock -knock. So some of 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:14.160 you know the routine, right? I don't know which 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.439 country originated it, but in America, if someone 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.699 says knock -knock, you say, who's there? And 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:25.139 then I say, art. You say, are who? I say, R2 00:08:25.139 --> 00:08:32.059 -D2. Or knock -knock, Dwayne. Dwayne the tub, 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:34.940 I'm dwelling. It's really dumb stuff, okay? It's 00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:39.240 dad joke, highfalutin material. Knock -knock 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:43.820 jokes ask the listener to ask a question. Chiasms 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:47.059 ask the reader or listener to ask a question. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:51.480 And here's the question chiasm asks you to ask 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:57.019 about the story. What is it in the middle that 00:08:57.019 --> 00:09:02.620 changed the ending? Because you see here the 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:06.059 ending is not exactly the same as the beginning. 00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:10.769 The ending, there's increase, but it's a greatly 00:09:10.769 --> 00:09:13.690 increase. And now priests are called out as a 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:16.269 new group that's joining the church. So what 00:09:16.269 --> 00:09:20.909 is it about that meeting of the 12 with the group? 00:09:20.970 --> 00:09:24.070 What is it about that that changed the crowd 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:28.009 from just increasing to increasing greatly? In 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:30.049 fact, what is it about the crowd that changed 00:09:30.049 --> 00:09:32.370 them from complainers to working together to 00:09:32.370 --> 00:09:35.519 choose seven? So we're going to break it down 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.799 like this. Instead of a 15 -point sermon, let's 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.259 go for three. What happened? And we're going 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:42.980 to spend most of our time here. If you analyze 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:46.279 a story well, the lessons from it and the application 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.899 flow pretty quickly after that. So we'll dig 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:52.840 into what happened. Spend a little time asking 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:56.720 why it worked. And finally, would it work for 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.490 us? Let's take a look, all right? What happened? 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.549 This is an easy three points. There is a problem, 00:10:03.649 --> 00:10:07.009 there is a proposal, and then there was a propulsion. 00:10:08.070 --> 00:10:11.029 Propulsion as in propelling like a rocket, taking 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:14.929 off, lifting something higher. Let's dig into 00:10:14.929 --> 00:10:18.429 the problem, and I need your help, okay? I'm 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:22.269 going to say a number of times, they had a problem. 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:24.470 And when I say that, I want you to say, what 00:10:24.470 --> 00:10:26.769 kind of problem? All right, let's practice. They 00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:30.960 had a problem. Here we go. There were rumblings 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.620 of discontent. People were talking, but the groups 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:38.279 in protest were not talking to each other. They 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.860 were talking to everybody else. And the rumors 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.960 were going around, and the speculation was going 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:45.960 around, and the assumption was going around, 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.960 and they had a problem. That was a little weak. 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:52.960 They had a problem. They had a communication 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.539 problem, and that wasn't all. The Greek -speaking 00:10:56.539 --> 00:11:00.740 believers were Jewish, but they were from outside 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:03.879 Israel because their history included hundreds 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.940 of years of exile and not all the families returned 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:10.019 when they were allowed. And as those who lived 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:14.059 in exile had descendants, they adopted the language 00:11:14.059 --> 00:11:17.179 of the empire, which was Greek. Like English 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:19.840 is a common trade language today, Greek is what 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:21.919 anybody spoke if they wanted to do business. 00:11:22.570 --> 00:11:25.169 And so the Jews in the outskirts of the empire, 00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:28.950 outside Israel, would learn Greek, but with every 00:11:28.950 --> 00:11:31.710 language comes a new way of thinking. And the 00:11:31.710 --> 00:11:34.990 Jews who spoke Greek absorbed some of the Greek 00:11:34.990 --> 00:11:39.210 ideas and habits, and the Jews that were at home 00:11:39.210 --> 00:11:42.789 considered themselves more pure than those who 00:11:42.789 --> 00:11:46.149 lived outside. And so when the Jews outside who 00:11:46.149 --> 00:11:48.909 spoke Greek would come to Jerusalem for festivals, 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:52.659 They could probably speak some Hebrew, maybe, 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.580 but they were recognized for who they were and 00:11:55.580 --> 00:11:59.759 looked down on. They had a problem. They had 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:03.000 a cross -cultural problem. And then we have the 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:06.259 widows. Implied here that the widows did not 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:09.419 have any family to take care of them, because 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:12.159 the Jews were like many of the Asian cultures, 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:15.120 and unfortunately not my culture as much, but 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:18.639 they respected elders and cared for them. All 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:20.919 the way through life. Americans do do that. It 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:23.860 just looks different. But the widows who did 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:28.159 not have family to do that. Had a problem. Financial 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:32.120 problem. They needed someone to take care of 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.860 them. But put it together. Greek speaking widows. 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:41.200 From outside Israel. And there was a weirdly 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:44.220 high number of Greek speaking widows. In Jerusalem. 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:49.059 Because some of the religious teachers. in Judaism 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:53.759 had been spreading this idea. If you die in Jerusalem, 00:12:53.899 --> 00:12:59.519 you get a better resurrection. And many of the 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.159 Greek -speaking Jews, they knew that was home. 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.639 And so if they could, they would move there. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:12.620 And as is the case in our day, women often outlive 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:17.000 the men. And we end up with Greek -speaking widows 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.980 in Jerusalem with no family connections and not 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:22.740 enough Greek -speaking synagogues to care for 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:28.240 them. So they had a problem. Greek -speaking 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.879 women, no family connections, ethnic minority, 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:35.870 this was a triple vulnerability. And then the 00:13:35.870 --> 00:13:38.289 Hebrew -speaking believers, they had their own 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:40.210 kind of problem. They were Jews. They were the 00:13:40.210 --> 00:13:42.750 locals. And within the church, some of them, 00:13:42.750 --> 00:13:45.950 it seems, were responsible for distributing food 00:13:45.950 --> 00:13:48.509 to the widows who needed it. And they probably 00:13:48.509 --> 00:13:51.029 spoke Greek, too, because it was the trade language. 00:13:51.330 --> 00:13:53.909 But they probably, like we often do, we go back 00:13:53.909 --> 00:13:56.269 and forth between our languages. And when we 00:13:56.269 --> 00:13:58.730 get upset or emotional, we flip to our heart 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:04.120 language, right? And I don't know how this conflict 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:08.039 started. Maybe it was intentional, but maybe 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:11.799 it was something like this. Hey, all you widows, 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:15.299 make a line. But the speaker is speaking in Hebrew 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:17.759 because they forgot it's a mixed crowd. So the 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.740 Hebrew speakers get in line and all the foreigners 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:24.019 are bunching up in kind of like. And so the Hebrew 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:27.620 speaker remembers, oh yeah, switch to Greek, 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:31.039 get in line, back there. But then in the mind 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.620 of those who don't understand, the Greek speaking 00:14:33.620 --> 00:14:36.100 widows are like, why is he yelling at us? Why 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:39.419 is he sending us to the back of the line? Why 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.399 did he tell everybody else they could go first? 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:44.440 And when you have a crowd of 3 ,000, how long 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:48.200 does it take for speculation and assumptions 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:53.000 to grow? It may have been innocent, we don't 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:57.320 know. But they had a problem. They had a language 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.500 problem. We experience this all the time, right? 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.440 That's not all. Discrimination. That was a real 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:12.080 thing. Within the Jewish religious system, let's 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:14.399 slow down just a little bit on this one. The 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.559 Hebrew -speaking Jews were the ones who controlled 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:22.320 Judaism. The local temple, the religious system, 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:26.600 the religious court called the Sanhedrin. They 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.059 were in control. And there was corruption in 00:15:30.059 --> 00:15:34.360 the system. Jesus even called them out. When 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.279 he accused, in public, he accused the priests 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:41.200 of cheating widows out of their property. Taking 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:44.000 advantage of their lack of connections and legally 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.039 pulling fast ones so the property ended up. as 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.360 temple property or priestly property. And Jesus 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:53.360 called them out also when he flipped the tables 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:57.100 of the money changers in the temple, saying, 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.220 this is supposed to be my father's house, a house 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:04.860 of prayer for all nations, and you've turned 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:08.100 it into a den of thieves. Make the connections. 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:11.139 He's criticizing their exchange rates and flipping 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:13.120 the coins out because it didn't really belong 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.639 to those exchange people. They've been ripping 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:20.879 people off. So normal everyday priestly society 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.879 in Jerusalem practiced discrimination and took 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:29.779 advantage of people. And it seemed to be that 00:16:29.779 --> 00:16:32.220 this problem had followed the believers into 00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:37.120 the church. At least that was the rumor. They 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:43.100 had a problem. An assumed power problem. And 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:47.500 then word finally reaches the apostles, the guys 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:49.740 in charge. And the leadership team, I don't know 00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:52.120 how long it took, but eventually they realized, 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.919 we better deal with this. This is threatening 00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:00.200 our ministry. Jesus called us to teach and tell 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:04.099 what we saw him do before he died and after he 00:17:04.099 --> 00:17:07.200 came to life. That's our job. And if we devote 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.440 ourselves to this ministry, they had a problem. 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:13.569 What kind of problem? they had a leadership problem. 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:17.089 So now it's time to turn to your neighbor and 00:17:17.089 --> 00:17:19.569 let me give you a little guidance. You can share 00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:23.910 something you heard that was wow or oh or what 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.390 and you can decide what those mean. Turn to your 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:28.750 neighbor and have a little chat about what you've 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:38.359 heard so far. Finish up in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:47.359 4, 3, 2, 1. Thank you. They had a problem. Wow, 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:51.619 all right. A multicultural, multilingual, multigenerational 00:17:51.619 --> 00:17:56.589 problem. So let's get to the proposal. What was 00:17:56.589 --> 00:18:00.910 so special about this proposal that changed the 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:04.690 problem into a propulsion? The apostles said, 00:18:04.829 --> 00:18:08.390 we apostles should spend our time teaching the 00:18:08.390 --> 00:18:12.029 word of God, not running a food program. And 00:18:12.029 --> 00:18:14.710 so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected. 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:18.450 full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, we will give 00:18:18.450 --> 00:18:21.509 them this responsibility, then we apostles can 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:25.089 spend our time in prayer and teaching of the 00:18:25.089 --> 00:18:29.930 Word. Lo and behold... Oh, hang on. Sorry, this 00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:31.390 is not working the way I thought. Don't look 00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:39.710 at that! Let's talk about what they did not do 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:45.519 first. The apostles, in their proposal, did not 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:54.420 try to ignore it and hope it would go away. They 00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:57.779 also did not blame the Greek speakers for being 00:18:57.779 --> 00:19:00.700 extra sensitive. Would you just be quiet? And 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.839 they did not blame the Hebrew speakers for being 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:04.859 racist, greedy people. Would you just stop it? 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:13.599 They didn't try to fake or force unity. And this 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.259 is a double temptation to everyone in leadership. 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.039 You can fake the unity by refusing to deal with 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:22.240 it and telling everybody, get on with your job. 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.319 You can force unity by commanding a solution. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.140 And sometimes leaders have to do that in crises. 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:35.180 But we can overdo it and force unity and shut 00:19:35.180 --> 00:19:39.759 down disagreements. Instead, they invited the 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:45.369 whole crowd to forge. Meaning, enter the heat 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:50.250 of disagreement. Submit your heart to the uncomfortable, 00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:56.109 awkward conversation. Stop talking about people 00:19:56.109 --> 00:19:59.609 and start talking with people. And let the heat 00:19:59.609 --> 00:20:02.930 of disagreement and the awkwardness soften the 00:20:02.930 --> 00:20:05.569 heart until we can get a solution that works 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:16.930 for everybody. If you look here, even in their 00:20:16.930 --> 00:20:22.329 proposal, it's a chiasm. The topic in their first 00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:24.589 line, we apostles should spend our time doing 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:29.210 what? And at the last line, then we apostles 00:20:29.210 --> 00:20:32.930 can spend our time doing what? Okay, here we 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:35.990 go again. And Luke, who authored this, is telling 00:20:35.990 --> 00:20:38.970 us, go ahead, ask. Ask what is it in the middle 00:20:38.970 --> 00:20:41.799 that makes that difference from... This is threatening 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.640 our ministry responsibility to, now we can devote 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.460 ourselves to it, and prayer. What is it? Well, 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:52.000 there's some criteria embedded in there. You're 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.900 going to pick some people, people that are well 00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:57.900 -respected, which means they've been in the community 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:02.509 long enough to be known. Okay, it's not someone 00:21:02.509 --> 00:21:04.710 who just walked in a week ago and, whoa, love 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:06.630 their speaking style, let's put them in charge. 00:21:06.750 --> 00:21:09.410 They've been in the community long enough to 00:21:09.410 --> 00:21:14.369 be known. And another criteria is that it should 00:21:14.369 --> 00:21:16.490 be obvious these people are full of the Spirit. 00:21:17.009 --> 00:21:20.250 What, full of the Spirit for mundane, everyday 00:21:20.250 --> 00:21:23.450 administrative work? Yes, not just miracles. 00:21:24.150 --> 00:21:29.190 What, full of the Spirit for table waiters? Yes, 00:21:29.190 --> 00:21:33.109 not just for miracle workers. Another criteria 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:35.609 was full of wisdom, which just means they have 00:21:35.609 --> 00:21:38.990 the skill to do the job. Put these all together, 00:21:39.089 --> 00:21:42.009 and the apostles are telling the crowd, pick 00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:48.509 based on character, not campaign promises, not 00:21:48.509 --> 00:21:51.529 appearance, not speaking ability, and not because 00:21:51.529 --> 00:21:53.369 they look like, think like, and vote like you. 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:58.200 Turn to your neighbor. Talk about the proposal. 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:09.000 Wow, or oh, or what? Up to you. And wrap it up 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:19.559 in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Thank you. 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:24.700 So we've talked about the problem. Multi -generational, 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.740 multi -lingual, multi -cultural problem. Their 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:30.980 proposal of getting people together. Now let's 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.220 talk about the propulsion, because this is very 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:36.579 interesting. Really? Come on, Luke, you've got 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:39.240 to be exaggerating. Everyone liked the idea? 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.140 This is not normal everyday conflict. Right? 00:22:43.619 --> 00:22:48.720 How many times does that happen? Really? Everyone 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.019 liked the idea, Luke. The Hebrew -speaking majority 00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:54.500 who just got the finger pointed in your face 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:57.619 saying, you're discriminating. They liked this 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:01.140 idea. Really? The Greek speakers? The minority 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:04.359 who was in danger? Maybe the discrimination was 00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:06.880 real. They liked this idea. Luke says, yeah, 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:11.279 everyone liked this idea. And they chose the 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:15.380 following. Stephen, man full of faith in the 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:20.619 Holy Spirit. Philip. Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:24.640 Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, an earlier 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:27.480 convert to the Jewish faith. Now what I did not 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:31.299 know, someone had to tell me, every name up there 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:37.220 is Greek. Do you think that's a mistake? Do you 00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:43.200 think that's an accident? The majority Hebrew 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.549 speakers did not. Use their power to put their 00:23:47.549 --> 00:23:53.890 people in charge. Another thing that shows this 00:23:53.890 --> 00:23:58.750 outcome is very interesting. This propulsion 00:23:58.750 --> 00:24:01.609 of the gospel is that three names in this list 00:24:01.609 --> 00:24:05.029 are like a table of contents that you can click 00:24:05.029 --> 00:24:07.210 and it sends you to the next chapter in the video. 00:24:07.690 --> 00:24:10.609 Stephen, immediately after this story, gets two 00:24:10.609 --> 00:24:15.150 and a half pages of text. As he does more than 00:24:15.150 --> 00:24:17.670 wait tables, the Spirit is so active in him, 00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:21.349 he's performing miracles. He's speaking the word 00:24:21.349 --> 00:24:25.869 of God so powerfully, he angers competing groups 00:24:25.869 --> 00:24:29.210 outside the church and they get him killed. He's 00:24:29.210 --> 00:24:31.910 the first Christian martyr. Immediately after 00:24:31.910 --> 00:24:34.390 Stephen is the story of Philip. Another one and 00:24:34.390 --> 00:24:38.069 a half pages in the book of Acts. as he takes 00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:41.069 the gospel message north out of Jerusalem to 00:24:41.069 --> 00:24:44.950 Samaria, another ethnic minority that the Jews 00:24:44.950 --> 00:24:47.990 did not like. And then the Spirit leads himself 00:24:47.990 --> 00:24:52.990 to meet a royal official from Ethiopia, and the 00:24:52.990 --> 00:24:59.369 gospel goes with him south. So Philip is a hinge 00:24:59.369 --> 00:25:03.470 of gospel breaking out beyond Jerusalem. And 00:25:03.470 --> 00:25:06.789 the final name in the list is Nicholas, and it's 00:25:06.789 --> 00:25:09.170 not the guy's name, it's where he's from that's 00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:12.809 significant. Antioch is almost the rest of the 00:25:12.809 --> 00:25:16.210 book of Acts, because it's the headquarters of 00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:20.589 a church that sent out the apostle Paul, who 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:22.970 then took the gospel to the rest of the empire. 00:25:25.390 --> 00:25:29.730 See why the apostles followed the Spirit's leading 00:25:29.730 --> 00:25:32.049 and said, Pick table waiters who are full of 00:25:32.049 --> 00:25:35.769 the Spirit. When the Spirit puts you in charge 00:25:35.769 --> 00:25:38.230 of anything, even a little thing, notice four 00:25:38.230 --> 00:25:40.730 names up there. No story of it. They're never 00:25:40.730 --> 00:25:43.390 mentioned again in Scripture. But they were part 00:25:43.390 --> 00:25:47.849 of a solution that propelled the gospel. So, 00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:53.089 God's message continued to spread. And in the 00:25:53.089 --> 00:25:56.250 chiasm, the idea sandwich, this is parallel to 00:25:56.250 --> 00:25:58.670 the complaining that was spreading before. Now 00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:06.019 it's changed. And the number of believers greatly 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:09.400 increased. Now look, Luke has already said twice 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:12.359 that the day of Pentecost, that miracle resulted 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:15.799 in 3 ,000 people joining the church. And in a 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.200 later incident, Luke says, now we're up to 5 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.220 ,000. I think by now he's just tired of counting. 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:28.119 All right? Greatly sounds like, yeah. And then 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:31.250 he calls out a group. Many of the Jewish priests 00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:36.170 were converted too. This is the same class that 00:26:36.170 --> 00:26:38.329 had just killed their Messiah a couple months 00:26:38.329 --> 00:26:43.230 before. This is the same religious power structure 00:26:43.230 --> 00:26:48.049 that conspired and successfully thought they 00:26:48.049 --> 00:26:51.009 got rid of this Jesus thing. This is the same 00:26:51.009 --> 00:26:55.400 power structure. That started the whole discrimination 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:58.359 problem and corruptionist system for real. That 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.400 was not speculation. This is the same power structure 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:05.539 backed by wealthy, aristocratic, elite influencers. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:11.940 What changed? Why are they now joining the church? 00:27:13.579 --> 00:27:17.880 These priests, before they killed Jesus, they 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.359 knew his teaching. That did not convince them. 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:24.829 These priests, They heard about the miracles 00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:28.250 and probably saw some and met some of the people 00:27:28.250 --> 00:27:31.009 that had been healed and that did not convince 00:27:31.009 --> 00:27:34.980 them. These priests... heard about the resurrection 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:38.000 from eyewitnesses, and knew about the empty tomb, 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:42.240 and heard the story from the soldiers, and that 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:45.000 did not convince them. These priests in their 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.779 own city heard about the sign of flame, and flame, 00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:53.900 and what's it, wind, and languages, and saw and 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:57.759 heard the miracle of understanding across linguistic 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:01.460 boundaries. And that did not convince them. These 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:05.500 priests saw Peter go from a Messiah denier to 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:09.460 a public courageous preacher. And that did not 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:14.220 convince them. But when the Holy Spirit took 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:17.039 out from under these same priests' influence 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:23.089 people who were an ethnic majority. and moved 00:28:23.089 --> 00:28:26.549 those new believers to act contrary to the priestly 00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:29.690 corruption in normal, everyday ethnic politics, 00:28:29.829 --> 00:28:33.490 and moved these people to bless and empower and 00:28:33.490 --> 00:28:38.150 honor and serve ethnic minorities who were vulnerable, 00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:42.769 the priests saw the good of the good news, and 00:28:42.769 --> 00:28:50.450 that convinced them. Got anything to talk about? 00:28:51.470 --> 00:28:58.069 Turn to your neighbor. Wrap it up in 10, 9, 8, 00:28:58.309 --> 00:29:12.069 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Thank you. What happened? 00:29:12.130 --> 00:29:14.990 We had a multi -generational, multi -cultural 00:29:14.990 --> 00:29:18.720 problem. But a proposal from the apostles changed 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:21.519 the whole thing into the propulsion of the gospel 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:25.599 and the church expanded. So we've looked at what 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:31.559 happened, but let's ask why it worked. Because 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:35.359 chiasm asks us to ask a question. What happened 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:39.619 in the core that changed rumblings of discontent 00:29:39.619 --> 00:29:42.759 to God's word spreading? What happened in the 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.259 core that changed multi -layered cross -cultural 00:29:45.259 --> 00:29:49.640 mess? Everybody liked it. What happened that 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:53.559 changed believers increasing to believers increasing 00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:56.940 greatly and priests? Let's take a closer look 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:00.619 at the proposal. Now here's the thing with chiasm. 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:03.519 When it asks you to ask the question, it doesn't 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:06.380 always answer it for you. The biblical writers 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:09.180 often set up the story and then require you to 00:30:09.180 --> 00:30:12.079 talk with your friends and work it out. That's 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:14.970 okay. Here's what I think I've worked out that 00:30:14.970 --> 00:30:17.089 you should talk at lunch or life group or sometime 00:30:17.089 --> 00:30:20.430 later and say, is that really true? But I think 00:30:20.430 --> 00:30:23.369 we can infer that it worked because the apostles 00:30:23.369 --> 00:30:27.230 trusted the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was 00:30:27.230 --> 00:30:30.470 already at work in them and among them and through 00:30:30.470 --> 00:30:34.750 them. Let me break it down. It's not that they 00:30:34.750 --> 00:30:37.630 came up with a plan and then said, hey, Holy 00:30:37.630 --> 00:30:43.039 Spirit, got something for you to do. No. It's 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.640 because they knew he was already at work following 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:49.380 the outline Jesus had already given them and 00:30:49.380 --> 00:30:51.640 the way of life Jesus had already given them 00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:54.299 and the work of Jesus on the cross given to them 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:57.700 and the Holy Spirit was pushing that forward 00:30:57.700 --> 00:31:03.539 and outward and inward. And so you can infer 00:31:03.539 --> 00:31:06.200 that the Holy Spirit had confirmed their calling 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:09.500 to be word workers and the Holy Spirit had not 00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:12.359 changed their calling to be widow workers. Someone 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:15.799 else would have to do it. They saw the Holy Spirit 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:18.180 was already filling other people too. They had 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:21.140 that confidence and they trusted that the Holy 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:24.180 Spirit would foresee the need and prepare people 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.400 with wisdom to meet the need. It didn't have 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:29.400 to be all them. And the Holy Spirit would guide. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:33.000 All the people to discover the people in their 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:37.539 midst that could fill the new need. The Holy 00:31:37.539 --> 00:31:42.220 Spirit was at work in them to lift individuals 00:31:42.220 --> 00:31:47.140 above their own self -interest and look also 00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:50.799 to the interests of others. The Holy Spirit was 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:55.799 at work among them as a group to submit to the 00:31:55.799 --> 00:31:58.910 apostles' leadership. and participate in their 00:31:58.910 --> 00:32:03.089 proposal to find the seven needed. And the Holy 00:32:03.089 --> 00:32:07.430 Spirit was at work through them to create a new 00:32:07.430 --> 00:32:12.849 kind of community that was attractive to others. 00:32:15.349 --> 00:32:17.970 Before you turn to your neighbor, apologize for 00:32:17.970 --> 00:32:19.910 waking them up and then share what you've heard. 00:32:21.390 --> 00:32:27.490 All right, wrap it up in five. Four, three, two, 00:32:27.970 --> 00:32:33.769 one. We've looked at what happened. We talked 00:32:33.769 --> 00:32:37.329 very briefly about why it works. Question, would 00:32:37.329 --> 00:32:41.069 it work for us? Wrong question. It's not an it. 00:32:41.569 --> 00:32:47.630 It's a he. Does he work for us? I mean, he has 00:32:47.630 --> 00:32:51.430 our good in mind, but he works in us, among us, 00:32:51.450 --> 00:32:58.019 and through us. He work in and among and through 00:32:58.019 --> 00:33:02.680 us. I propose he already is. Look at the nations 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:06.720 in this room. Look at the nations if you get 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.119 to know people, people from cultures that actually 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:11.099 would prefer not to be in the same room together. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:15.000 Over here, a few weeks ago, I met a guy, an American 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.059 like me, who told me as we chatted away that 00:33:18.059 --> 00:33:26.640 he went to get his hair cut by an Iranian. If 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:30.420 your national leader were bombing another country, 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:33.980 would you let someone from that country take 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:39.920 sharp tools around your head? He was not reckless. 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:43.019 He saw it as an opportunity to show the love 00:33:43.019 --> 00:33:47.700 of Jesus across geopolitical interests. See, 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:51.119 the answer to the world's problems is not winning 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:54.890 elections, winning wars. or getting higher numbers 00:33:54.890 --> 00:33:58.049 in the polls. It's not getting your party to 00:33:58.049 --> 00:34:01.390 have more control over more people. It's about 00:34:01.390 --> 00:34:04.750 the Holy Spirit getting into us and ours to give 00:34:04.750 --> 00:34:09.269 us the gift of self -control. The Holy Spirit 00:34:09.269 --> 00:34:13.389 is at work, calling together a people from among 00:34:13.389 --> 00:34:16.630 the nations who regard heaven as our primary 00:34:16.630 --> 00:34:21.429 citizenship. Would he work in and among and through 00:34:21.429 --> 00:34:25.170 us? I think he already is. Read this with me. 00:34:25.969 --> 00:34:30.570 For God is working in you, giving you the desire 00:34:30.570 --> 00:34:34.730 and the power to do what pleases him. Here we 00:34:34.730 --> 00:34:38.690 go again. Standard English is a northern Midwest 00:34:38.690 --> 00:34:42.969 dialect that has erased the plural. We have no 00:34:42.969 --> 00:34:45.150 separate word for you, singular and you, plural. 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:48.300 But in the Greek, that's you plural. So I would 00:34:48.300 --> 00:34:51.000 actually prefer a southern United States dialect 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:54.159 that should be read like this. For God is working 00:34:54.159 --> 00:35:00.880 in you all. Giving. Now, after I did this, someone 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:03.320 came up and said, actually, there's a further 00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:08.079 pronoun. It's called all y 'all. Okay. God is 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:13.000 working in all y 'all. Giving all y 'all. I'm 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:16.639 a Yankee. I just can't do this correctly. The 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:22.280 Holy Spirit's interested in the group. This helps 00:35:22.280 --> 00:35:25.840 me so much in conflict because by nature I am 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:29.699 a conflict avoider. I stay quiet about things 00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:33.260 and I don't have a strong sense of urgency until 00:35:33.260 --> 00:35:36.539 I do and then I blow up and attack people. God's 00:35:36.539 --> 00:35:39.260 been working on me and one of the ways he works 00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:42.900 is he's given me this confidence. It has become 00:35:42.900 --> 00:35:45.980 my prayer. when I'm facing someone that I think 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:48.760 is not treating me well, and when I coach others 00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:51.579 through conflict. This is my prayer. Father, 00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:56.320 I know your Holy Spirit works in me to transform 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:59.940 me. I trust your Holy Spirit's working in them 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:06.760 too. It makes a huge difference. He is already 00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:10.719 at work transforming community, desire, groupthink, 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:14.650 and cultural habits. Read with me, please. Since 00:36:14.650 --> 00:36:18.610 we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the 00:36:18.610 --> 00:36:22.090 Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. 00:36:22.329 --> 00:36:25.710 The plural pronouns are obvious there, addressed 00:36:25.710 --> 00:36:28.670 to the group. Would He work in and among and 00:36:28.670 --> 00:36:32.510 through us? He already is. He is leading. And 00:36:32.510 --> 00:36:37.190 finally, I said this wrong in the first service. 00:36:37.349 --> 00:36:39.889 It was not Jesus' final prayer request. It was 00:36:39.889 --> 00:36:43.090 second to last prayer request. His final prayer 00:36:43.090 --> 00:36:45.690 request was, Father, do I have to do this? But 00:36:45.690 --> 00:36:50.570 your will instead of mine. The power of the creator 00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:53.829 laid it down to serve those who are vulnerable. 00:36:54.670 --> 00:36:57.190 And this community in Acts did the same thing. 00:36:57.409 --> 00:37:00.949 Living out his second to the last prayer request 00:37:00.949 --> 00:37:07.349 in John 17, where Jesus said, I am praying not 00:37:07.349 --> 00:37:14.130 only for these disciples. but also for all who 00:37:14.130 --> 00:37:17.469 will ever believe in me through their message. 00:37:18.130 --> 00:37:22.869 He prayed for you. And in an eternal mind of 00:37:22.869 --> 00:37:28.269 omniscience, maybe he even said your name. But 00:37:28.269 --> 00:37:30.909 the prayer goes on. What was he praying for you 00:37:30.909 --> 00:37:37.250 about? He said, I am praying that they will all 00:37:37.250 --> 00:37:45.719 be Just as you and I are one. As you are in me. 00:37:48.099 --> 00:37:55.400 And I am in you. And may they be in us. So that. 00:37:55.500 --> 00:37:58.380 Are you ready for this? Why does he want us to 00:37:58.380 --> 00:38:02.760 be one? So that. Read with me. The world will 00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:08.230 believe you sent me. The strongest apologetic 00:38:08.230 --> 00:38:11.809 to convince outsiders is how you treat each other. 00:38:13.289 --> 00:38:16.530 And the Holy Spirit is desperate to answer that 00:38:16.530 --> 00:38:21.710 prayer. I said I chose this story because it's 00:38:21.710 --> 00:38:24.469 a normal, everyday, mundane, no miracles kind 00:38:24.469 --> 00:38:30.409 of story. I was wrong. This is the miracle of 00:38:30.409 --> 00:38:34.829 real unity in deep diversity. And the Holy Spirit 00:38:34.829 --> 00:38:38.650 wants to do it again. When the Holy Spirit works, 00:38:38.789 --> 00:38:42.309 differences that normally divide become opportunities 00:38:42.309 --> 00:38:48.989 to display the gospel. So in true Pastor Pablo 00:38:48.989 --> 00:38:53.869 tradition, I'll give you one question. Do you 00:38:53.869 --> 00:38:59.230 trust the reconciling presence? I'm not going 00:38:59.230 --> 00:39:02.199 to pray out loud. I'm going to invite you to 00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:04.320 do business with your father right now. Just 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:06.559 be quiet for a moment while our worship team 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:09.960 comes. And you talk to your father about what 00:39:09.960 --> 00:39:19.960 he wants to do in your group. Thank you for tuning 00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:24.159 in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or 00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:27.300 far, if you are looking for community or are 00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:30.900 in need of prayer, We welcome you to engage by 00:39:30.900 --> 00:39:36.360 sending us an email to office at ecb .asia. If 00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:38.840 God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:41.559 you will find giving options on our website. 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:45.800 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:46.059 you.