WEBVTT 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.500 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:19.420 Christ. Let's dive in. We have been walking through 00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:23.539 the Book of Mark and pointing to the fact that 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:28.679 Christ is King. Mark is moving quickly. He moves 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:32.520 very fast. He gives us a lot of stories that 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.250 are in the Gospels. and all the other gospels. 00:00:36.630 --> 00:00:40.810 But his are very brief because he is writing 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:43.469 to a persecuted church in Rome, and he's writing 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:45.990 to a Gentile church in particular. So he gives 00:00:45.990 --> 00:00:48.289 us things that only they would really care about 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:52.350 and need to know. And he's giving it to us from 00:00:52.350 --> 00:00:56.229 Peter's standpoint because he was a direct disciple 00:00:56.229 --> 00:01:00.710 of Peter. So we're kind of seeing the way Peter 00:01:00.710 --> 00:01:03.469 saw the life of Christ. and we're seeing it in 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:07.769 a very quick way. Now this morning, the title 00:01:07.769 --> 00:01:12.450 of my sermon is this, the dangers of disbelief 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:16.890 when familiarity breeds contempt. And we're gonna 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:20.010 be looking at Mark chapter six, and we're gonna 00:01:20.010 --> 00:01:23.609 be going verses one through six. The big idea, 00:01:23.609 --> 00:01:25.170 if you wanna go ahead and put that up, Dustin, 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:27.709 if you wanna write this down, here's kind of 00:01:27.709 --> 00:01:31.629 what I'm driving home this morning. Our refusal 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:35.349 to accept the truth of who Jesus is can rob us 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:38.590 of the transformative power he longs to offer, 00:01:39.090 --> 00:01:42.189 reminding us that familiarity does not equate 00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:48.170 to understanding or belief. So, famous passage 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:52.170 in the scriptures. We're gonna look at in just 00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:56.930 a second where Jesus goes back home and his own 00:01:56.930 --> 00:02:02.540 town rejects him. But unbelief is a powerful 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:06.299 force with devastating ramifications as Christians 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:09.240 many of us in this room understand the ramifications 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:13.159 of unbelief in the next life But what about the 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.699 ramifications in this life? So what I mean by 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:18.840 that is is all of us in this room whether you're 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:23.139 a Christian or not Because I'm I'm not naive 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:24.800 to the fact that not everybody in this room is 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:30.840 a Christian but everybody knows what it means 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:34.199 as a Christian belief that if you do not believe 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.340 in Christ and what he has done for you on the 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:39.319 cross, what the ramifications of that is eternally. 00:02:39.979 --> 00:02:42.620 But I don't think we ever think about what the 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:47.280 ramifications of unbelief is in this life. And 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:48.879 so that's what we're gonna kind of unpack this 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.580 morning. But I want you to think about this. 00:02:52.259 --> 00:02:55.740 Adam and Eve doubted God and his warning. And 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:59.400 so what did it cause but a fracture? between 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.979 us and God. The people in Noah's day refused 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:06.960 to believe the warning of coming judgment and 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:13.120 what happens? You guys know? They drown, right? 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:16.759 Aaron, after the Exodus, refused to patiently 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:19.900 trust the Lord's guidance and created a golden 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:23.020 calf and led people into idolatry, which resulted 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.270 in the slaughter of 3 ,000 people. The ten fearful 00:03:28.270 --> 00:03:31.270 spies refused to trust God's promise, and in 00:03:31.270 --> 00:03:35.629 an entire generation, what happened? Died. They 00:03:35.629 --> 00:03:38.090 didn't see the promised land. They died in the 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:41.930 wilderness. Achan's unbelief was expressed through 00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:45.110 greed, theft, and covering up of his sin, which 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:47.789 resulted in the execution of his entire family. 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:52.370 Over and over and over again throughout Israel's 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:55.580 history, unbelief and apostasy brought repeated 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:59.379 judgment upon the people. Now here's the crazy 00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:03.280 thing. As I said, every single one in this room 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:05.659 would agree that unbelief and distrust in God 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:08.919 are dangerous. None of us would stand up and 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:12.000 say, you know what, I think unbelief is a good 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.019 thing. Nobody, is anybody gonna say that that's 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:18.339 a good thing? Nobody? Okay, good. All right, 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:21.920 we don't have to have a counseling session. But 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:23.819 what we often miss is this, and I want you to 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:28.800 write this down. Unbelief can be very subtle. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:32.639 Sometimes unbelief doesn't look like outright 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:36.579 rebellion. Sometimes it just looks like familiarity. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:43.579 Here's what I mean. Sometimes we can become so 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:45.759 familiar with the scriptures that we approach 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:51.730 the Word of God with apathy. You know the stories, 00:04:52.250 --> 00:04:55.149 you know the verses, you know the doctrine, but 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:57.649 your heart no longer trembles before it. How 00:04:57.649 --> 00:05:00.370 many of you guys know what I'm saying? I can 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:04.889 tell you. As your pastor, having taught this 00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:08.750 book for almost two decades, having two degrees, 00:05:09.529 --> 00:05:13.550 there are times where I approach this word as 00:05:13.550 --> 00:05:16.649 if it is not God speaking to me, but just a book 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:18.629 that I'm familiar with the end of the story. 00:05:21.310 --> 00:05:28.290 And let me tell you, that's sinful. But we tend 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:31.769 to approach it in a way that is not life transforming. 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:34.129 We tend to approach it in a way that's like God 00:05:34.129 --> 00:05:36.509 not speaking directly to us. We just approach 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.269 it with this, mm, ho hum kind of attitude, you 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:45.569 know? Or how about prayer? Have you ever prayed 00:05:45.569 --> 00:05:48.029 for something so many times that eventually you 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:54.939 stopped believing that God would answer? Maybe 00:05:54.939 --> 00:05:57.279 deeper than that you stopped believing he has 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:01.939 even listening We can approach prayer in a way 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.939 that's like I've not seen any change or an answer 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:07.220 to prayer So I'm either not gonna pray at all 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:11.519 because prayer doesn't work Or maybe you just 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:17.819 fall asleep in prayer But subtle unbelief creeps 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:21.829 in when familiarity breeds contempt And that 00:06:21.829 --> 00:06:24.250 is exactly what we're going to see in Mark chapter 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:27.110 six. Nazareth, which is where Jesus is from, 00:06:27.470 --> 00:06:31.250 is so incredibly familiar with Jesus, they knew 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:33.870 his family, they knew his background, they knew 00:06:33.870 --> 00:06:36.850 where he grew up, but because he became so familiar, 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:38.769 they became so familiar with him, they completely 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:41.769 missed who he truly was. And because of that 00:06:41.769 --> 00:06:44.209 unbelief, they missed opportunities to be blessed. 00:06:44.269 --> 00:06:47.189 Now let's go ahead and look at verses one through 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:53.759 six. He went away from there and came to his 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.439 hometown, and his disciples followed him. And 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.920 on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:02.560 and many who heard him were astonished, saying, 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.860 Where did this man get these things? What is 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:09.720 the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:14.160 works done by his hands? Is this not the carpenter's 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:19.060 son and the son of Mary, and the brother of James 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:22.889 and Joseph? And Judas and Simon, and are not 00:07:22.889 --> 00:07:25.970 his sisters here with us? And they took offense 00:07:25.970 --> 00:07:28.810 at him. And Jesus said to them, a prophet is 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:32.050 not without honor, except in his hometown, and 00:07:32.050 --> 00:07:34.329 among his relatives, and in his own household. 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:38.389 And he could do no mighty work there, except 00:07:38.389 --> 00:07:40.870 that he laid his hands on a few sick people and 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:43.509 healed them. And he marveled because of their 00:07:43.509 --> 00:07:46.829 unbelief. And he went about among the villages 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:51.430 teaching. If you're taking notes, here's my first 00:07:51.430 --> 00:07:59.810 point. Unbelief obscures the obvious. Unbelief 00:07:59.810 --> 00:08:04.389 obscures the obvious. How many of you guys ever 00:08:04.389 --> 00:08:08.089 been to a magic show? Magic shows are pretty 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:10.810 cool. At least I think so. When you find a good 00:08:10.810 --> 00:08:14.269 one. Hadley, you been to a magic show? That was 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:18.889 pretty cool. Anybody get sawn into? Yeah. Awesome. 00:08:19.170 --> 00:08:26.250 All right. But you got magic shows are so like 00:08:26.250 --> 00:08:28.029 when they're done well. So here's what's funny. 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:31.470 No, it's not here. But one of my favorite things 00:08:31.470 --> 00:08:34.889 about Noah is like he loves magic tricks. And 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:37.389 there was a long time where he was really obsessed 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:41.570 with with doing magic tricks. But I told him 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:44.490 that he should become this magician. that his 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:46.889 whole shtick is he's not sure if the magic trick 00:08:46.889 --> 00:08:49.110 is actually going to work because he would be 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:51.350 like all right dad i'm going to try this trick 00:08:51.350 --> 00:08:55.129 on you hopefully it'll work most of the time 00:08:55.129 --> 00:08:57.990 it didn't but like you know he'd do card tricks 00:08:57.990 --> 00:09:00.129 and he'd get halfway through it and be like ah 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:02.889 i did it wrong hold on and i go that should totally 00:09:02.889 --> 00:09:05.049 be a shtick of a magician like it's just kind 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:07.350 of like you get a lot of them wrong because i 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:09.409 just think it'd be hilarious but what makes magic 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:13.210 shows so engaging is when they're really good 00:09:14.219 --> 00:09:17.279 And so a few years ago, when Micah was little, 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:19.259 I got this video and I went back and watched 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:22.419 it. Micah was about eight years old and he was 00:09:22.419 --> 00:09:24.379 caught up on stage in this big youth conference 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:28.360 and was used by this Christian magician to do 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.480 this car trick. Now, I'm gonna tell you, the 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.639 trick was insane. So he calls up four other people 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:38.340 and then he calls up this young girl, right? 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:40.539 And he tells this young teenage girl, he says, 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.559 do you have a phone? She says, yes. And he goes, 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:47.190 okay. I'm going to be able to figure out your 00:09:47.190 --> 00:09:52.549 cell phone number by using cards. And you're 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:54.389 like, that seems kind of impossible. Now, let 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:58.850 me say this. If Micah was not my son, okay, I 00:09:58.850 --> 00:10:00.750 would have thought this was already pre -worked 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:05.250 out beforehand. All right, but it wasn't. We 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.509 never even saw the guy beforehand. He calls Micah 00:10:07.509 --> 00:10:10.379 up. So what they do is is they the other four 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:12.600 people he's like, alright, here's a stack of 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:14.960 cards You he's like you take some and so they 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.960 you know, they pull them off and then he lay 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.159 them out He goes now you choose this one and 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:22.019 so by deduction of other people choosing stuff 00:10:22.019 --> 00:10:25.019 the last remaining cards remaining He's like 00:10:25.019 --> 00:10:27.899 this will be your phone number pulls out the 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:31.620 cards Ever she's she's blown away because he 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:33.600 lays them in order and then he goes I'm gonna 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:37.980 prove it then he calls her cell phone Blew us 00:10:37.980 --> 00:10:39.919 all away as you can imagine right because this 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.360 guy just like used other people Micah being one 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:46.740 of them to figure out this young lady's phone 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:53.639 number and so I'm like Okay, hold on right like 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:59.320 This is pretty Pretty incredible. It's pretty 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:03.159 marvelous, right? but then as you look and knowing 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:09.179 how All magic is just what? It's sleight of hand, 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:17.039 right? It's an illusion, right? And so the reason 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:21.419 why I share that is this. I have no idea how 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:26.720 this guy did what he did. But while being amazed, 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.500 there was still skepticism the entire time that 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:31.080 I was watching it, because I'm like, there's 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.399 no way he just did that, right? He's not God. 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:37.919 So in the back of my mind, I know that there's 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.840 another explanation, but that's what makes magic 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.340 shows fun. There's mystery, there's wonder, there's 00:11:44.340 --> 00:11:47.340 amazement, but deep down, we all know it's not 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:50.620 supernatural. There's another explanation somewhere. 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:53.519 And when we come to Mark chapter six, we see 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.440 something very similar happening with Jesus when 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:01.440 he returns to Nazareth. His hometown has invited 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:06.700 him back. And if you read the book of Luke, it'll 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:09.600 tell you that this is the second time he's come. 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.399 The first time, they almost killed him. We actually 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.600 saw it in the book of Mark, but we skipped over 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:20.159 it because my Easter sermon was on Lord Lyre 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:24.799 lunatic, right? And so what we see is that was 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.139 his first time going back to Nazareth and they 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:29.779 tried to kill him. And his own family says he's 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:33.399 a lunatic. So now this is the second time Jesus 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:35.799 comes back because he's invited back by Nazareth 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.580 this time. How do you know he was invited back, 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.639 Pastor Logan? Because he preaches in the synagogue. 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:45.460 And so they invite him back because they've been 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:48.220 hearing about the miracles. Jesus's fame is spreading. 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:49.700 So they're like, you know what, maybe we missed 00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:52.740 something here. So they bring him back. He goes 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:54.799 back into the synagogue and he begins to teach. 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:58.200 And it says that they were astonished, right? 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.379 Now what it says in verse two? They're astonished 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:04.820 by his teaching and there's this major shift 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:09.720 from wanting him dead But now they invite him 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:11.879 into the synagogue to teach because the word 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:13.940 has spread and they've heard about the the healings 00:13:13.940 --> 00:13:16.259 Like I said, they've heard about the demon possessed 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:18.860 man having demons cast out of him and now they're 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:22.940 curious But their curiosity quickly turns into 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:29.440 skepticism Why? Why does it turn into skepticism? 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:37.759 Unbelief. But why is there unbelief? They knew 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:42.639 him growing up. Right? I mean, this is what, 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:45.700 think, just think about this. Hold on, let me, 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:47.519 I'm gonna get too far ahead of my notes here. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.159 As I said, unbelief obscures the obvious. Instead 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.639 of seeing the power of God standing right in 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:58.000 front of them, they started looking for another 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:02.220 explanation. This can't really be God. This can't 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:04.899 really be the Messiah. This has to be some sort 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:07.639 of trick. And they would rather believe their 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:10.519 eyes were deceiving them than believe God was 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:14.740 moving among them. So think about that. Think 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:20.000 about the irony. The blind is seeing. The demon 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.320 possessed are being set free. The dead is being 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.480 raised and lives are being transformed. And instead 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.019 of surrendering in worship, they would rather 00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:33.450 explain it away. Because unbelief will always 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:37.090 try to obscure what's happening right in front 00:14:37.090 --> 00:14:42.629 of you. And we still do this today. God answers 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:46.210 prayers, we call it coincidence. God changes 00:14:46.210 --> 00:14:51.149 a life, well, people mature. God providentially 00:14:51.149 --> 00:14:53.850 opens doors, convicts hearts, restores marriages, 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:57.110 saves sinners, and we explain it away because 00:14:57.110 --> 00:15:00.470 unbelief would rather create alternate explanations 00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:05.389 then bow before the obvious work of God. That's 00:15:05.389 --> 00:15:10.110 what familiarity does if we aren't careful. Nazareth 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:13.210 became so familiar with Jesus, they could no 00:15:13.210 --> 00:15:15.509 longer truly see him. So let me ask this question 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:18.250 before going on to point number two. Are you 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:21.409 so familiar? And I'm going to say like, are you 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:25.350 so familiar with the scriptures that you're completely 00:15:25.350 --> 00:15:29.809 blind to what God is doing in your life? If you're 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:31.929 an unbeliever in this room right now, are you 00:15:31.929 --> 00:15:34.450 so familiar, because you can be familiar with 00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:37.289 the stories that are in here, that you are completely 00:15:37.289 --> 00:15:40.870 blind to the fact that you need Jesus. And you 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:43.889 would rather search for how to fix your life 00:15:43.889 --> 00:15:53.490 in other ways. Point number two. Unbelief focuses 00:15:53.490 --> 00:16:01.860 on the irrelevant. Unbelief focuses on the irrelevant. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:09.600 So in Mark 6 -3, what do they do? So it says 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.340 they're astonished and they ask these questions. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.740 How did this happen? Is this not, like, this 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:19.000 is crazy. Is this not the brother of the son 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.620 of? Is this not, is not his sisters here before 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:28.820 us? What are they doing right here? What are 00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:34.659 they doing? Yeah, I've I watched that kid poop 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:45.159 in his pants, right? Am I wrong? All of us here 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:48.820 have done that All of us here have watched somebody 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:51.600 grow up and you're like they will always forever 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.840 remain young They will always forever be that 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.600 person who screwed up Let me put it like this 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:03.539 if you've ever known a liar a cheater or a drug 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:08.119 addict You will not allow them to be that to 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.339 not Grow out of that or be saved out of that 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:13.599 freed out of that you will always see them as 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:20.180 that You know how I know Because there could 00:17:20.180 --> 00:17:22.680 be a person in this church that everyone's like 00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:25.950 I don't know. I've just watched them continually 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:27.970 go back into the same things over and over and 00:17:27.970 --> 00:17:30.430 over again. It's hard for me to see them in a 00:17:30.430 --> 00:17:32.349 different light. You guys know what I'm talking 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:38.609 about? We do it all the time. So what happens 00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:44.509 is unbelief focuses on irrelevant things. Have 00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:47.430 you ever been in a debate with someone where 00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:51.190 one side presents an argument that is just airtight, 00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:54.539 you make a point, And there's a moment of silence 00:17:54.539 --> 00:17:56.680 because everybody in the room knows the argument 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.079 just landed. Do you know what I'm talking about? 00:17:58.680 --> 00:17:59.880 You ever seen a debate where all of a sudden 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:05.839 it's like, oh man, that was a good point. And 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:10.319 the other side isn't saying anything. But instead 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:15.759 of admitting they're wrong, what happens? I'll 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:17.319 tell you what happens in my house, because this 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:19.579 happens all the time with Tracy and I. I'm not 00:18:19.579 --> 00:18:21.599 saying who's usually the one that's in the wrong, 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:27.480 but. It might be me. I automatically start shifting 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:34.660 the point that I was trying to make into something 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:36.599 else, or I start making the argument into something 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:40.539 else. You guys know what I'm talking about? Suddenly 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:42.599 everything begins to, well, I wasn't talking 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:44.279 about that. I was talking about something else. 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:50.359 Or now comes personal attacks, right? Ad hominem 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.259 attacks. You start calling them names, right? 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:55.660 We got to do whatever we can to distract from 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:58.200 the fact that we've got to create the smoke screen, 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.079 right? We don't want to address that we just 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.559 got owned. So instead of addressing the actual 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:06.759 evidence, they begin attacking the person. That's 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:10.079 called an ad hominem attack. Attacking the individual 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:12.619 instead of dealing with the argument itself. 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.480 I actually recently saw a video of a guy who 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.279 was on a campus of the University of Oklahoma, 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:25.299 and he was debating kids on, college kids from 00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:29.619 the pro -life position. And this young guy just 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:33.500 got absolutely owned in what he was saying to 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:35.539 show the, because the guy was like essentially 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:37.799 turned his own argument against him to show just 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:40.700 the complete fallacy of where it falls dead, 00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:44.279 right? And the kid, instead of admitting defeat 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:46.980 or going, I see your point, he leaves the argument. 00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:51.710 And then moments later, while the guy is actually 00:19:51.710 --> 00:19:53.710 debating another kid, he comes back and he throws 00:19:53.710 --> 00:19:58.029 red paint onto the guy. And then takes off running. 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:02.690 But why does he do that? Why does he react in 00:20:02.690 --> 00:20:06.390 such a way? Write this down. Because when people 00:20:06.390 --> 00:20:09.630 can't defeat the truth, they often try to distract 00:20:09.630 --> 00:20:14.269 from it. We see this all the time online, right? 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:16.839 We've seen it happen to people like Charlie Kirk 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.960 and many others. When evidences becomes overwhelming, 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:23.440 people often resort to noise, distractions, and 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.819 personal attacks because they don't actually 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:29.259 have an answer. And that is exactly what Nazareth 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:32.960 is doing here with Jesus. Rather than embracing 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:35.000 the obvious reality standing in front of them, 00:20:35.220 --> 00:20:39.240 they begin focusing on irrelevant details. How 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:41.440 do they do that? How do they begin to focus on 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:47.960 irrelevant details right here? Look at the text. 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:59.039 Verse three. What's it say? Is this not the carpenter's 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:03.900 son? Is this not Mary's son? Don't we know his 00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:06.279 brothers and sisters? Notice they are not what 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:10.130 they're not talking about though. Notice that 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:12.970 they don't deny the miracles. They aren't denying 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:15.049 his wisdom. They've already said he has wisdom. 00:21:15.250 --> 00:21:17.829 He's speaking with authority. They don't deny 00:21:17.829 --> 00:21:19.890 the authority. So instead, you can write this 00:21:19.890 --> 00:21:24.750 down. Instead, they focus on the irrelevant because 00:21:24.750 --> 00:21:29.569 unbelief is looking for an escape route. Instead, 00:21:29.670 --> 00:21:32.410 they focus on the irrelevant because unbelief 00:21:32.410 --> 00:21:39.029 is looking for an escape route. And honestly, 00:21:39.650 --> 00:21:43.349 humanly speaking, we can understand it, right? 00:21:44.609 --> 00:21:47.910 We can understand why they are reacting the way 00:21:47.910 --> 00:21:50.369 that they are. Imagine watching someone grow 00:21:50.369 --> 00:21:52.750 up, as we talked about, in your hometown. You 00:21:52.750 --> 00:21:54.809 knew them as a kid, you watched them work with 00:21:54.809 --> 00:21:56.910 their father, and now suddenly they're performing 00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:59.470 miracles, teaching with unmatched authority, 00:21:59.569 --> 00:22:02.450 and claiming things only God could claim. I wanna 00:22:02.450 --> 00:22:05.369 pause for just a second, okay? And I wanna say 00:22:05.369 --> 00:22:12.380 this. Do you notice that it names Jesus' other 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:18.059 brothers and sisters? I want to point this out 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:22.940 to you because we have former Catholics in our 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:25.940 church, but we are in a very Catholic prominent 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:29.779 community and prominent state. This is one of 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:34.160 the passages of why when I'm speaking with someone 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.579 who's Catholic and they want to talk about Mary 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:40.380 remained a virgin her entire life. You literally 00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:47.779 point right here to Mark. He lists them. Mary, 00:22:49.980 --> 00:22:54.119 yes, wonderful that she got to birth Jesus, the 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:56.339 Messiah, but she was not a perfect woman and 00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:58.339 she did not remain a virgin. So I just want to 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:02.140 make sure that that gets pointed out just because 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:04.319 it's there and in the community that we're in. 00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:08.400 But you can imagine for those that are in Nazareth 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.740 how hard it would be to process how well they 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:14.660 know Jesus and seeing him grow up, how it could 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:16.980 be hard to process the fact that he's the Messiah. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:24.359 Matter of fact, to kind of give you an idea of 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:27.940 how hard it is for anyone to transition, the 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:33.140 church that Tracy and I grew up in, Tracy grew 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:35.240 up in it. And then I came along later, but my 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:38.839 uncle was the pastor of the church. I applied 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:40.480 to be the youth pastor when they were needing 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:42.900 a youth pastor, and they wouldn't even give me 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:46.140 a chance. And there was two reasons for that. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.299 One, they said I was not ready, which I can see 00:23:51.299 --> 00:23:55.240 that in hindsight now. But two, they said they 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:59.619 don't think that I was called to ministry. So 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:04.140 they questioned my call. But that's what familiarity 00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:09.079 does. Because my uncle watched me grow up make 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.299 mistakes, and to him, I will always be the young 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:17.559 kid that he saw making mistakes, right? Familiarity 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:22.680 can make us blind. And if we're not careful, 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.440 we can start clinging to unbelief by elevating 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.950 things that ultimately do not matter. We do this 00:24:28.950 --> 00:24:30.970 spiritually all the time. Instead of asking, 00:24:31.450 --> 00:24:34.789 is God working? Is this true? Is Christ really 00:24:34.789 --> 00:24:38.049 calling me to obedience? We start focusing on 00:24:38.049 --> 00:24:42.369 secondary things. I don't like how that person 00:24:42.369 --> 00:24:45.769 said it. I don't like that style of preaching. 00:24:46.609 --> 00:24:49.750 I've heard this passage before. I know too much 00:24:49.750 --> 00:24:52.710 about that preacher. I know too much about those 00:24:52.710 --> 00:24:58.470 church people. Does that sound familiar? And 00:24:58.470 --> 00:25:01.549 before long, irrelevant details become excuses 00:25:01.549 --> 00:25:06.289 for spiritual resistance. I want you to write 00:25:06.289 --> 00:25:11.369 this down. One of the most dangerous things familiarity 00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:13.769 can do is convince you that because something 00:25:13.769 --> 00:25:19.930 is common to you is no longer sacred. One of 00:25:19.930 --> 00:25:22.430 the most dangerous things familiarity can do 00:25:22.430 --> 00:25:25.609 is convince you that because something is common 00:25:25.609 --> 00:25:30.250 to you, it is no longer sacred. Some of you have 00:25:30.250 --> 00:25:33.549 heard the gospel so many times that it no longer 00:25:33.549 --> 00:25:37.750 amazes you. Some of you have sat in church so 00:25:37.750 --> 00:25:41.470 long that sermons, my pages keep sticking together, 00:25:42.009 --> 00:25:43.970 that sermons have become just background noise 00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:47.690 to you. Some of you have prayed the same prayers 00:25:47.690 --> 00:25:49.730 for years and have quietly stopped expecting 00:25:49.730 --> 00:25:53.049 God to move. Instead of dealing honestly with 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:55.630 your disbelief, you've learned to focus on irrelevant 00:25:55.630 --> 00:25:59.609 details. FYI, this is why churches go through 00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:03.789 splits, why bitterness happens in churches, why 00:26:03.789 --> 00:26:06.930 gossiping and infighting, and lastly, become 00:26:06.930 --> 00:26:09.910 a dying church. And they close its doors because 00:26:09.910 --> 00:26:13.089 they no longer stand in awe, but they focus on 00:26:13.089 --> 00:26:16.930 the irrelevant. So here's the question I need 00:26:16.930 --> 00:26:19.890 us all, including myself, to wrestle with. Where 00:26:19.890 --> 00:26:22.250 in your life have you allowed familiarity to 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:26.519 make you spiritually indifferent? Where have 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:28.900 you become so accustomed to Jesus that you no 00:26:28.900 --> 00:26:33.460 longer stand in awe of him? Because unbelief 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:36.240 will always try to shift your eyes away from 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:39.279 what matters most. Point number three, and this 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:45.440 is my last point. Unbelief spurns the supernatural. 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:56.210 Unbelief spurns the supernatural. So Jesus responds 00:26:56.210 --> 00:26:59.190 to their unbelief with a heartbreaking statement. 00:27:01.589 --> 00:27:04.309 A prophet is not without honor except in his 00:27:04.309 --> 00:27:07.289 hometown and among his relatives and in his own 00:27:07.289 --> 00:27:13.089 household. And then Mark says this, he could 00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:18.029 no longer do work there because of their unbelief. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:22.240 Let me ask you this question. Does that mean 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:29.519 Jesus was incapable of doing the work? No It 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.759 does not mean in any way that Jesus lacked any 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.740 sort of power Jesus was not weakened by their 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:38.640 unbelief as though human faith somehow fuels 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:45.279 divine strength No Christ is all -powerful regardless 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.900 of whether anyone believes in him or not Tony 00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:52.660 Evans said this I had to share this quote with 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:56.599 you guys. He said, Christ did not lack power, 00:27:57.339 --> 00:28:01.279 rather the absence of faith caused God to withhold 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:05.279 supernatural work. The Messiah was in their midst, 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:08.740 but they missed his work in their lives because 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:12.940 they refused to believe. And that's really the 00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:17.430 tragedy of the text. The Son of God is standing 00:28:17.430 --> 00:28:20.309 right in front of them. The Messiah is in their 00:28:20.309 --> 00:28:24.569 midst. Power, truth, healing, restoration, all 00:28:24.569 --> 00:28:28.130 of it present. And they missed it because unbelief 00:28:28.130 --> 00:28:31.869 spurns the supernatural. A few weeks ago, I mentioned 00:28:31.869 --> 00:28:34.490 this. Miracles do not hinge on the strength of 00:28:34.490 --> 00:28:37.109 your faith. They hinge on the strength of the 00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:40.089 one your faith is placed in. I want to say this 00:28:40.089 --> 00:28:44.609 real briefly. So many people have said this before 00:28:44.609 --> 00:28:48.430 to me. Well, if God was just real, why wouldn't 00:28:48.430 --> 00:28:50.549 he just prove it and just show himself to me 00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:55.609 and do a miracle? And my response is always the 00:28:55.609 --> 00:28:58.130 same. It would not change the way you feel about 00:28:58.130 --> 00:29:06.049 him. You ever thought about that? Literally, 00:29:06.950 --> 00:29:11.069 he stood in front of thousands. performed miracles, 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:13.849 raised the dead, and it didn't change people, 00:29:13.890 --> 00:29:21.769 it only hardened them more. Faith is not about 00:29:21.769 --> 00:29:25.690 believing in yourself harder. Faith is trusting 00:29:25.690 --> 00:29:31.130 Christ. Write this down. Unbelief is dangerous 00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:34.269 because it slowly convinces you that Jesus is 00:29:34.269 --> 00:29:38.319 not who he says he is. Some of you have bought 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.619 into the lie that God is distant that he doesn't 00:29:40.619 --> 00:29:43.460 care that he's forgotten you that he doesn't 00:29:43.460 --> 00:29:46.039 truly love you and Underneath that bitterness 00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:50.660 and apathy is unbelief Now I want you to listen 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:55.240 very carefully Because this is where familiarity 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:58.500 becomes spiritually deadly you can still attend 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:01.250 church and be full of unbelief. You can read 00:30:01.250 --> 00:30:03.710 your Bible and still not truly believe it. You 00:30:03.710 --> 00:30:06.089 can pray prayers and your heart be miles away 00:30:06.089 --> 00:30:08.690 from God. You can go to church out of routine 00:30:08.690 --> 00:30:12.930 and instead never worship. You could read scripture 00:30:12.930 --> 00:30:15.390 to gain information rather than transformation. 00:30:15.569 --> 00:30:18.670 You can pray out of obligation instead of adoration 00:30:18.670 --> 00:30:21.490 and eventually Christianity becomes nothing more 00:30:21.490 --> 00:30:26.700 than maintaining a spiritual facade. But brothers 00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:28.980 and sisters, let me just say this as lovingly 00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:30.960 and as carefully as I can say as your pastor. 00:30:31.859 --> 00:30:34.000 If you have not listened to anything I've said, 00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:36.359 I want you to just zone in for just this quick 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:38.660 moment, because I literally only have a page 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:44.339 and a half of notes remaining. If your entire 00:30:44.339 --> 00:30:46.680 relationship with Christ is nothing more than 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.680 routine, if your entire relationship with Christ 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:54.910 is nothing more than just knowledge, If your 00:30:54.910 --> 00:30:56.630 relationship with Christ is nothing more than 00:30:56.630 --> 00:31:00.490 outward appearance, there's no trust, there's 00:31:00.490 --> 00:31:03.549 no surrender, there's no awe, there's no genuine 00:31:03.549 --> 00:31:06.089 affection for Jesus, then I would have to truly 00:31:06.089 --> 00:31:10.750 say, examine yourself and say, are you really 00:31:10.750 --> 00:31:14.569 saved? Do you truly know Christ? Have you truly 00:31:14.569 --> 00:31:17.789 surrendered? Because if not, it's just a facade. 00:31:18.390 --> 00:31:21.049 You're just playing a game, and that's spiritually 00:31:21.049 --> 00:31:28.089 deadly. Because saving faith is not perfect faith, 00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:31.829 and saving faith, what it does is cling to Christ. 00:31:32.509 --> 00:31:35.230 Even weak faith reaches out for Jesus, amen. 00:31:36.970 --> 00:31:39.390 And if the Holy Spirit is pressing on your heart 00:31:39.390 --> 00:31:41.809 right now, if this message is exposing something 00:31:41.809 --> 00:31:44.490 in you, do not harden yourself like Nazareth 00:31:44.490 --> 00:31:47.630 did, but hear his voice of the Savior, the one 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:50.809 calling out to you to come back to belief, come 00:31:50.809 --> 00:31:53.849 back to trust, because he is worthy, he is real, 00:31:54.049 --> 00:31:58.329 he is not a trick, it's not an illusion. He is 00:31:58.329 --> 00:32:02.609 the Son of God who saves sinners. And so here's 00:32:02.609 --> 00:32:04.210 what I would ask. I would ask that you would 00:32:04.210 --> 00:32:07.750 stop running. Stop hiding behind familiarity, 00:32:08.230 --> 00:32:11.170 stop hiding behind routine, and come home to 00:32:11.170 --> 00:32:13.569 Christ. Because the greatest miracle you need 00:32:13.569 --> 00:32:16.029 is not physical healing, financial provision, 00:32:16.329 --> 00:32:19.549 or change circumstances. The greatest miracle 00:32:19.549 --> 00:32:23.049 you could ever need is salvation. And that miracle 00:32:23.049 --> 00:32:26.869 is available to you today. Let's pray.