WEBVTT 00:00:03.559 --> 00:00:06.940 Howdy You know whenever I was younger my my dad 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:10.519 always liked to speak in parables and stories 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:12.919 Half the time they actually made sense. So that 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:16.320 was always nice But he had this one where he 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:18.679 would say that I always needed to make sure that 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.199 I was listening to him and he would give this 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.239 story where There was a boy that was running 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.679 out through a field and all of a sudden his father 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:31.320 yells out stop Don't run And the boy stops and 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:33.719 he's saying, why? Why, dad? He said, just come 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:37.039 back to me slowly. What's going on, dad? I don't 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.020 understand. It's OK. Just come to me. Don't worry 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.079 about it. Just don't go any farther. Come back 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:46.979 here. And finally the kid, oh, whatever. And 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:49.320 he finally gets back to his dad. He's walking 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.399 slowly, oh, just like this, dad. And then finally 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.700 he gets to the dad. The dad picks him up and 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:56.960 he shows him that right at his feet where he 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:01.380 was standing, was a snake. And from then on, 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:03.920 I knew that if I did not listen to my dad completely, 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.359 I'd be bitten by a snake. So, that's one way 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.060 to keep your kids in line, so there you go. But 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:13.379 you know, this idea though, of we don't always 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:17.019 know what's always in front. Being willing to 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:20.140 trust what we've been told by Christ Himself. 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:22.680 That's something that we often times lose sight 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.430 of. If you've ever listened to how rescue teams 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:28.329 or emergency crews talk about critical moments, 00:01:29.170 --> 00:01:31.989 there's a pattern where you can't always know 00:01:31.989 --> 00:01:35.250 the whole plan in advance. You just have to know 00:01:35.250 --> 00:01:39.069 that next step. And they stay with the one who 00:01:39.069 --> 00:01:42.349 is giving the directions. Because in unstable 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:45.890 situations, disasters, emergencies, moments where 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:49.310 time matters, you can't wait until everything 00:01:49.310 --> 00:01:52.680 makes sense before you move. If you wait for 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:55.480 everything to have full clarity, you may never 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.019 move at all. So you don't need the whole plan, 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.680 you just need to know who it is that you trust 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.439 to follow their lead. During the Apollo 13 mission, 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:08.000 when too many issues were arising, astronauts 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.139 had to follow the step -by -step instructions 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:12.759 from mission control without fully understanding 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.000 what they were working out on the ground. During 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.819 Hurricane Katrina rescue operations rescue teams 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:22.000 often had to act with incomplete information 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.479 Because waiting for clarity might have cost lives 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.240 that hung in the balance each and every minute 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.240 and In moments like September 11th when the first 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:33.780 responders were there. They didn't have a full 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:37.460 picture, but they still needed to walk forward 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:40.159 Knowing that they were with someone that they 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.360 trusted to lead them In each case, the question 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.360 wasn't, do we understand everything? It was, 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:50.460 do we trust enough to take that next step? This 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:52.500 morning, we're looking at what I'd call a tale 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:57.560 of two situations. Yes, that is the pun for today. 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:01.120 You're welcome. Not two different truths, not 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.580 two different paths, but two very different responses 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:08.849 to the same question. In one situation, You have 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:11.550 the disciples who were sitting with Jesus Christ 00:03:11.550 --> 00:03:13.949 and they're confused. They're unsettled. They're 00:03:13.949 --> 00:03:17.210 asking all these questions. But in the other, 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.409 you have Stephen who is standing in front of 00:03:20.409 --> 00:03:24.129 a crowd that is already turning against him as 00:03:24.129 --> 00:03:28.930 a follower of Christ. But Stephen keeps speaking 00:03:28.930 --> 00:03:32.090 even when it will eventually cost him his own 00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:36.289 life. Because remember, Stephen was the first 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:38.979 martyr of the church. after the resurrection. 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:45.680 One group was asking, do we know the way? But 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.539 this other man is already walking it. So here's 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:51.159 what we're going to do today. We're going to 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.960 walk through what Jesus is saying in John 14, 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.360 piece by piece. And every time we do, we're going 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:01.199 to look at Stephen and ask, what does that actually 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.120 look like in real life? Because it's one thing 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.780 to nod along in a quiet room when everything 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:13.680 is stable and calm. It's another thing to live 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.939 out in the world when the room is not quiet anymore. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:22.759 John says about Jesus, Jesus is saying, let not 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:25.899 your hearts be troubled. That word troubled, 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.959 it means stirred up. It means shaken, like water 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:35.500 in a storm. So let's not pretend that the disciples 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:39.100 are calm and thoughtful here. We read the Gospel 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.480 of John and we treat it as this nice, calm book 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.980 of all these teachings. This is the night when 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:48.920 Jesus was betrayed. Jesus has been talking about 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:51.939 things not only regarding the one who would betray 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:56.439 him, who could have been anyone, but also as 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.379 if he's about to leave them. And so they're anxious. 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:02.759 They know something is wrong. They just don't 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:06.339 know what. And Jesus does something interesting. 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:10.100 He doesn't give them a timeline. He doesn't give 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:12.879 them a strategy. Here are all the things that 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:15.579 you need to do when you're not sure how to move 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:20.360 forward. He gives them Himself. Believe in God, 00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:25.379 believe also in Me. The disciples want clarity 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:29.240 about the future. But Jesus gives them certainty 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:33.589 only about Himself. And that's important because 00:05:33.589 --> 00:05:37.149 it tells us something about how God works. God 00:05:37.149 --> 00:05:40.389 does not always answer your questions about what 00:05:40.389 --> 00:05:44.310 is to come, but He always anchors you in who 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:48.110 He already is. But let's look a little bit at 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:52.529 Stephen again. Stephen is described as full of 00:05:52.529 --> 00:05:57.810 grace and power. Luke... Writing in the book 00:05:57.810 --> 00:06:02.310 of Acts is saying that he is pleris caritas cae 00:06:02.310 --> 00:06:09.189 Domineus, full of grace and power. Grace or carus 00:06:09.189 --> 00:06:13.750 means God's active favor. His presence is resting 00:06:13.750 --> 00:06:17.769 on a person in a way that shows up in real life, 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:23.310 not just head knowledge. And power, the dynamis, 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:27.269 that's where we get words like dynamite. But 00:06:27.269 --> 00:06:31.610 in the New Testament, it's not explosions or 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:35.810 destruction or terrible sitcoms catchphrases. 00:06:36.269 --> 00:06:39.670 It's spirit -empowered strength that produces 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:43.829 visible action and endurance. So Stephen is not 00:06:43.829 --> 00:06:46.790 described as a man who is just good at serving 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:50.629 tables. He's described as someone saturated with 00:06:50.629 --> 00:06:55.430 God himself. Stephen wasn't assigned to something 00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:59.360 small. Isn't that so easy for us to think of 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.180 when it talks about this phrase? Well, you go 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:06.980 take care of serving the tables. Good pat on 00:07:06.980 --> 00:07:11.980 the head. Stephen is not just sitting there asking 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:17.560 questions, but rather now the person who was 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:21.959 serving the tables is now facing real and immediate 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:25.879 opposition. I can assure you this is not what 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:29.660 they had in mind when they put him on those tables. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.779 See, Stephen, we know that he is full of grace 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:37.120 and power, but he's not full of answers. He's 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.899 not clear on everything that is to come. He's 00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:44.100 full of the presence of God. See, the disciples, 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:48.800 they wanted clarity before they could move. But 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.670 Stephen? He already has enough clarity in Christ 00:07:52.670 --> 00:07:59.410 Jesus to stand. When we heard from John that 00:07:59.410 --> 00:08:02.629 Thomas is saying what everyone is thinking, we 00:08:02.629 --> 00:08:05.589 don't know where you're going, how can we know 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:10.370 the way? That's not a bad question. We keep spending 00:08:10.370 --> 00:08:13.670 week after week getting after Thomas for all 00:08:13.670 --> 00:08:15.910 the things that in reality we would have said 00:08:15.910 --> 00:08:18.920 ourselves. We don't know where you're going. 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:22.160 How can we know the way? That's very revealing. 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.759 Because what Thomas is really saying is, I'm 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.759 not sure I can follow unless I understand everything 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:34.919 to expect. And let's just be honest. How often 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:38.080 is that the same in our prayer lives? We're not 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.259 always asking for guidance. Sometimes we're asking 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:45.990 for guarantees. God... I see this job in front 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:48.649 of me. I think this would be amazing. So could 00:08:48.649 --> 00:08:51.250 you go ahead and give me that job? But only if 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:54.529 it's your will, God. But I'd really like that 00:08:54.529 --> 00:08:58.389 job. Or God, I'm really struggling in this relationship. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.720 I'd really like for you to be able to give us 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.860 honesty, good communication, figure out why it 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:08.539 is that I made them really upset on Friday night 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:10.600 at me. I don't know what the issue is, but if 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:12.820 you could just solve that, that'd be great because 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:17.840 we've got tickets to rodeo. Lord God, I need 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:21.600 to figure out why it is that over here I can't 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.799 seem to get my health where I want it to be. 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:26.960 So Lord God, if you could somehow just bless 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:29.470 All of the food and all of the nourishment that 00:09:29.470 --> 00:09:32.110 I receive, especially that donut today, make 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:38.190 it fat free. How often is it that we're seeking 00:09:38.190 --> 00:09:41.409 out with God how to take the paths that we want 00:09:41.409 --> 00:09:43.590 and just make sense of them? But you see, what 00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:46.269 does Jesus say? You know how He does all of those 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:52.590 I am statements? He does that here. I am the 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:55.690 way, the truth, and the life. This isn't about 00:09:55.690 --> 00:09:58.029 directions to follow. It's not giving them a 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:01.789 map. It's saying, you already have the way because 00:10:01.789 --> 00:10:05.590 you have me. The way is not something you figure 00:10:05.590 --> 00:10:08.929 out. The way is not some path you're trying to 00:10:08.929 --> 00:10:11.289 follow that you've figured out. It's someone 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:14.789 that you follow. So when we're looking at Stephen, 00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:18.289 and it says they appointed people to serve tables, 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:27.269 the phrase in the book of Acts says, And that's 00:10:27.269 --> 00:10:30.730 where we get the word deacon. But you see, in 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:33.450 the New Testament, deacon is not about a lower 00:10:33.450 --> 00:10:37.710 status. It's about a designated service. It's 00:10:37.710 --> 00:10:40.289 specifying what they're going to do. So it's 00:10:40.289 --> 00:10:44.370 not less spiritual work. It's not as if you've 00:10:44.370 --> 00:10:47.210 got, oh, here are the pastors, here are the elders, 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:51.840 here are the deacons. That all of us have different 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.159 roles that are so important to what the church 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.259 does It's about structure Intentionality for 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:00.600 the good of the body. So when the church appoints 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.000 deacons, it's not saying well These are the ones 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.240 that do lesser things because they can't do something 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.460 else These are the people who are entrusted with 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:12.220 what is essential because service is not opposite 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:16.360 to the power of the spirit It's one of its expressions 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:20.700 You've probably seen it before the people who 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:24.019 set things up, the ones who clean up, the ones 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:26.779 who are checking on people quietly, the times 00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:29.279 whenever Annie is asking to make sure that we've 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.620 got volunteers for the next event, and everybody's 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:33.820 like, did you sign up to prep? Yeah, I don't 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:37.360 want to stay afterward to clean up. We know. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.879 But you know, people aren't on the stage because 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:45.639 it's about what you can see them doing. That's 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.539 why even in this congregation, we don't separate 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:52.950 those who serve from those who lead and those 00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:56.429 who study. The people who are closest to the 00:11:56.429 --> 00:11:58.450 needs are often the ones who see what the rest 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:02.129 of us miss. This is why we've been making sure 00:12:02.129 --> 00:12:05.230 that anybody in any form of leadership here is 00:12:05.230 --> 00:12:08.950 also someone who is involved in worship, study, 00:12:09.470 --> 00:12:13.230 fellowship, serving, and giving. And also why 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:16.929 anybody who is also serving in some capacity 00:12:16.929 --> 00:12:20.230 is in worship and studying the Word. because 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:25.190 it's never one or the other. Stephen, then, he 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:27.950 doesn't pause his speech and say, alright, I'm 00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:31.490 just a deacon, so let me go double check with 00:12:31.490 --> 00:12:34.549 all the apostles and the elders and make sure 00:12:34.549 --> 00:12:38.850 that I say everything exactly right. He speaks. 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:43.029 Because it is time. And that's where we often 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:45.789 get uncomfortable. Because there are a few places 00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:48.590 where Stephen, he's retelling history, but we're 00:12:48.590 --> 00:12:52.009 like, That doesn't sound right. Like, he says 00:12:52.009 --> 00:12:55.710 Abraham bought a burial place in Shechem. But 00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:59.929 in Genesis, Abraham bought a burial cave in Hebron 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:02.730 while Jacob is later associated with Shechem. 00:13:03.629 --> 00:13:05.870 So, Stephen's kind of like blurring together 00:13:05.870 --> 00:13:08.129 the details a little bit, sort of like whenever 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.350 the pastor accidentally says Moses instead of 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:12.490 Noah in a sermon and someone in the back has 00:13:12.490 --> 00:13:17.690 to correct him. Never happened here. Or it talks 00:13:17.690 --> 00:13:21.149 about 75 people went to Egypt with Jacob, but 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:24.610 the Hebrews said it was 70. It was the Greek 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:27.470 translation of the Old Testament that said 75. 00:13:28.049 --> 00:13:30.049 And that's what Stephen probably would have had 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:32.950 at that time, the Hellenistic Jews, the ones 00:13:32.950 --> 00:13:36.210 who were reading in the Greek. But was that the 00:13:36.210 --> 00:13:40.169 actual dependable number? Or Stephen's saying 00:13:40.169 --> 00:13:43.350 that Moses had 40 years, 40 years, and 40 years, 00:13:43.649 --> 00:13:46.009 and that structure isn't laid out that neatly. 00:13:46.769 --> 00:13:49.190 But you see, Stephen, he's emphasizing the stages, 00:13:49.330 --> 00:13:53.230 not a strict timeline. So, do we look at this 00:13:53.230 --> 00:13:58.210 and say, ah, the details don't matter? Or do 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:00.250 we say, ah, you can't really trust the Bible? 00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:04.700 You see, it's contradicting itself. What it's 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:08.159 doing is that Stephen isn't trying to say I've 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.399 got all the details right He's being a faithful 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:15.100 witness he's showing a pattern of God acting 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:19.740 people resisting and Even so they're resisting 00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:23.600 his witness now See Steve is not worried about 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.679 if you got every detail, right? He's worried 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.360 about whether they're listening, but let's be 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.340 honest when we read his words We also start to 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:37.580 wonder, did he have to say it that way? Could 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.679 it Stephen have been a little more careful, a 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:42.940 little more strategic, a little less direct? 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:47.179 We know what it's like to be in a world of conflict. 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:50.700 Was Stephen really being faithful, or was he 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:55.240 just being too unnecessarily antagonistic? But 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:57.299 if we're not careful, we start to put ourselves 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:00.879 in the role of evaluating. And we sit at a distance 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.419 and say, what would have been done better if 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:07.299 we had handled it? How often before we judge 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:10.320 Stephen, do we need to recognize that we do the 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.460 same thing when we look at anything in history? 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:14.940 We always assume we would have done better than 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:17.639 the people who have lived in it. Think about 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.000 the early 1900s and all the child labor laws, 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:22.840 kids that were eight years old working in factories, 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.320 and the reformers pushing to change that. Yet 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.740 there were already people saying, you're disrupting 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:32.539 the economy. Or women's suffrage and the right 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:36.899 to vote leading up to 1920, but people even saying, 00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:39.240 why do you need to push that? Can't you just 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:42.580 wait? Or even the civil rights movement of the 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:44.820 50s and 60s and the marches and the sit -ins 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:47.500 and the protests and people saying, it's too 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:50.980 fast, it's too much, you're too confrontational. 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:54.460 But even today, there are people who still look 00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:57.850 back on these moments and question Why they pushed 00:15:57.850 --> 00:16:02.110 as hard as they did to protect children and to 00:16:02.110 --> 00:16:05.330 listen to women and to give equal rights to all, 00:16:05.750 --> 00:16:07.509 even wondering why they had to make such a big 00:16:07.509 --> 00:16:11.669 deal about it. Yes, people today even question 00:16:11.669 --> 00:16:15.070 why those who fought for child protections, women's 00:16:15.070 --> 00:16:17.870 rights, and equal rights for minorities, and 00:16:17.870 --> 00:16:20.649 why they had to be so difficult. But you see, 00:16:20.690 --> 00:16:22.389 here's a question that we have to ask honestly. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.799 Are we second guessing what was necessary in 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:29.100 the moment? Because we live on the other side 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:32.460 of it. Faithfulness in the moment often looks 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:34.779 uncomfortable to those watching from a distance. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.600 So when we put the two situations side by side, 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.000 the disciples say, we don't know the way, and 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.299 Stephen walks forward without knowing the outcome. 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:47.559 The disciples want clarity before they obey. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:53.519 Stephen obeys before he has clarity. And this 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:57.120 is where it comes to us. Because we don't usually 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.980 reject truth outright. We don't reject truth. 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:06.440 We just adjust it. We make it a little more comfortable. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.819 Last week we heard from Reverend Chris Yang, 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:13.160 who's about to go to mainland China. You see, 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:16.220 in China the expectation is not always that you 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:19.200 abandon your faith, but it's that you reshape 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.559 it. That faith gets filtered, adjusted, brought 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.079 into alignment with what their government approves 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:31.099 of. It's not, don't believe, it's believe, but 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:34.779 in a way that we're comfortable with. Before 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:37.660 we think that that's just something for other 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:40.980 people, how often do we say, yes, I will confess 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:45.039 Jesus, but maybe if I say it this way, people 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.119 will like it better. Yes, I will serve Jesus, 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:52.450 but Maybe I can wait a little longer. Yes, I 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:55.490 will believe in Jesus, but maybe there's a version 00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:59.089 of this whole Jesus thing that's easier. And 00:17:59.089 --> 00:18:02.450 at some point, maybe we have to ask better questions. 00:18:03.250 --> 00:18:08.509 Not just, is what I'm doing godly? Because let's 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:12.670 be honest, following God, we make that mean a 00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:17.119 lot of different things in our minds. But can 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:21.920 I actually picture Jesus saying this? doing this 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:27.180 Standing here Because you cannot redefine Jesus 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:33.400 We're very creative We're not that creative But 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.140 here's where we need to be careful Because let's 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:39.200 be honest if we're trying to be more like Stephen 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:45.140 We're all in trouble His example is not the place 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:49.099 where we find our salvation. Jesus Himself is. 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:53.720 Jesus is the way that we keep failing to walk 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.859 perfectly. Jesus is the truth that we sometimes 00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:01.640 try to soften. Jesus is the life that holds us 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:05.559 even when we hesitate. He does not say, find 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:10.339 the way. He says, I am the way. So this week, 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.200 what I challenge you is, It's not to ask, do 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:18.140 I understand the way of Jesus? It's asking, am 00:19:18.140 --> 00:19:22.480 I still walking with Jesus? Am I adjusting Jesus 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:26.140 to fit where I want to go instead? Be honest, 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.640 there are places where we already know the answer 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.539 to that. The places where we've hesitated. The 00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:35.940 places where we've negotiated with God. The places 00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:39.140 where clarity just became an excuse to delay. 00:19:40.009 --> 00:19:42.710 But here's a better word that Jesus gives today 00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:46.650 It's not saying catch up because you're way too 00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:51.630 behind He's saying I am the way with you right 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:56.009 now and that means this The weight of your life 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:58.049 is not held up by how perfectly you followed 00:19:58.049 --> 00:20:02.970 him or but rather by how faithfully he continues 00:20:02.970 --> 00:20:07.230 to hold you It's not about how clean our obedience 00:20:07.230 --> 00:20:10.730 is we're saved because of how complete His mercy 00:20:10.730 --> 00:20:15.630 is. Where you already know what is good, right, 00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:18.549 and true, even if you don't get what's going 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:21.509 to happen, even if you're not sure what is to 00:20:21.509 --> 00:20:26.670 come, take that next step. Not because you know 00:20:26.670 --> 00:20:30.170 what's going to happen next, but because even 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:33.789 when you don't move fast enough, you are still 00:20:33.789 --> 00:20:39.160 held by the One who is the way. May He continue 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.519 to strengthen us and encourage us now and always. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:43.440 Amen.