Participants:
Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME230211S
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00:14 [ Piano plays ] ♪♪ 00:24 ♪♪ >> ♪ Cantate domino 00:33 canticum novum ♪ ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra 00:39 ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ 00:42 ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra >> ♪ Cantate domino 00:50 canticum novum ♪ ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra 00:55 ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ 00:59 >> ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra ♪ 01:04 ♪ Cantate domino ♪ Et benedicite 01:08 ♪ Nomini ejus ♪ Sing to the Lord 01:14 ♪ Sing a new song 01:16 ♪ Sing to the Lord ♪ Sing all the Earth ♪ Sing to the Lord 01:23 ♪ Bless His name ♪ Sing to the Lord ♪ His glory proclaim 01:30 [ Piano plays ] ♪♪ >> ♪ I will sing a new song 01:41 >> ♪ I will sing >> ♪ Yes, I will sing >> ♪ To the Lord 01:46 >> ♪ I will sing >> ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ 01:50 >> ♪ I will sing >> ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ 01:56 ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ >> ♪ Sing 02:02 >> ♪ I will sing a joyful song ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:11 >> ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra 02:17 ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ ♪ Cantate domino omnis terra 02:26 ♪ Cantate domino canticum novum ♪ ♪ Sing out with joy 02:37 ♪ Cantate domino [ Applause ] 02:48 [ Piano plays ] 09:01 >> You may be seated. [ Piano plays ] 13:21 >> Our scripture reading for today is going to be 13:24 Mark 8:34-36. "Then he called the crowd -- 13:29 Then he called the crowd to Him, along with His disciples, 13:32 and said, 'If anyone would come after me, 13:34 he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 13:37 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life 13:41 for me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man 13:44 to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?'" 14:08 [ Piano plays ] >> ♪ And can it be? 14:25 ♪ And can it be? >> ♪ Amazing love ♪ How can it be? 14:35 >> ♪ And can it be that I should gain ♪ ♪ An interest in 14:45 the Savior's blood ♪ ♪ Died He for me, who caused His pain ♪ 14:55 ♪ For me, who Him to death pursued? ♪ >> ♪ Amazing love 15:07 ♪ How can it be ♪ That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? ♪ 15:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:37 ♪ He left His Father's throne above ♪ ♪ So free, so infinite 15:46 His grace ♪ ♪ Emptied Himself of all but love ♪ 15:55 ♪ And bled for Adam's helpless race ♪ ♪ 'Tis mercy all, 16:06 immense and free ♪ ♪ For O my God >> ♪ It found out me 16:22 >> ♪ And can it be? >> ♪ And can it be? >> ♪ Amazing love 16:30 ♪ How can it be? ♪ No condemnation now I dread >> ♪ Now I dread 16:40 >> ♪ Jesus and all in Him is mine ♪ ♪ Alive in Him, my living head 16:52 ♪ And clothed in righteousness divine ♪ ♪ Bold I approach 17:05 the eternal throne ♪ ♪ And claim the crown through Christ my own ♪ 17:22 ♪ Amazing love ♪ How can it be ♪ That Thou, my God 17:43 >> ♪ Shouldst die for me? >> ♪ Amazing love ♪ How can it be? 18:01 >> ♪ Amazing ♪ Love >> Amen. 18:19 >> Amen. 18:24 >> Oh, God, amazing, amazing love. You for us? 18:33 Please. Speak and may we hear You now, we pray in Jesus' name. 18:41 Amen. 18:43 He's home for spring break. Ah, no more classes. 18:49 That grin on his face is stretching into a broad smile. 18:54 And what's more, what does Mother do tonight? 18:58 But she spreads his favorite comfort food 19:04 on that supper table. It doesn't get any better 19:07 than this. He's lying on his boyhood bed, 19:10 looking straight up at the ceiling, that grin 19:13 still on his face. 19:16 [ Sighs ] What a life. And he hears the sound 19:21 of slapping feet outside his bedroom window down on the alley. 19:28 But, hey, when you're living in a city, you're used to sounds like that. 19:31 And he is rolling over to his contented sleep when more footsteps, 19:39 a pack of footsteps. Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap. The boy is curious. 19:43 He jumps out of bed, throws the curtain back, looks out -- full moon -- 19:47 and in the shadows of the moon, there they go. Another pack of runners. 19:52 But his eyes nearly pop out as he looks at the man coming up behind the pack. 19:57 He recognizes it's his own home church pastor, and the pastor slips by, 20:02 and behind the pastor, men from the church. Of all things tonight. 20:06 What's up? You can't be a young man and not be drawn by that. 20:12 "I got to check this one out." So he jumps out of his bed and races out of his bedroom, 20:18 went boom. He stops. And this is the embarrassing 20:22 part of the story. He remembers that he has gone to bed 20:29 without anything on. We're talking about buck naked. He can't go running like that. 20:37 He grabs the sheet on top of his bed, wraps it around himself. 20:40 "I got to catch them." And he's down the stairs and out into the alleyway, 20:44 the moon shining its silver as he races to catch up with that pack. 20:52 Police running now. "No. What's going on? What are we going to have, 20:56 a rumble in the city park?" He gets to the gates of the city park, and sure enough, 21:01 there's a band of young men already in the park. Here comes this other band 21:04 of young men. The police are surrounding the second band. 21:07 And our spy -- shh -- doesn't want anybody to know he's here, of course. 21:13 Is ducking behind the trees, getting as close as he can to this showdown. 21:19 Some words are exchanged. He can't quite hear from here behind the tree, but... 21:24 And then suddenly, angry voices erupt. And then there's a scream. 21:30 The police lunge at the first crowd in the park, and this young spy knows this 21:37 is time to get out of dodge now. "I'm out of here." And as he runs, 21:42 a hand out of the dark grabs him, a strong grip has him by the arm. 21:48 He's caught. But with the adrenaline that -- adrenaline that's now flowing, 21:54 he wriggles in that iron grip and slips out, leaves the sheet in the man's hand 22:00 and starts running for home... naked. The boy, in a few minutes, plops 22:07 onto that same boyhood bed [panting] his mouth dry with adrenaline, 22:14 his heart pumping with fear, naked in the night. Naked but at least not dead. 22:25 Wow. It's hard to believe that that bizarre tale 22:29 is told in the Bible. Yep. Book of Mark. 22:34 Open your Bible to Mark, chapter 14. Book of Mark. 22:40 14. Drop down to verse -- short little story that it is -- verse 51 and 52. 22:45 Book of Mark. And here it is, Mark 14:51. "A young man wearing nothing 22:51 but a linen garment"... I didn't make it up. ..."was following Jesus." 22:57 Oh, good thing to do, I guess. "When they seized him, he fled naked, 23:04 leaving his garment behind." Come on. Are you serious? That's in the Bible? Sure is. 23:13 The young -- Well, scholars are quite clear that this is none other than 23:18 the young John Mark, the author of the story who anonymously inserts himself. 23:27 Let's call him John Mark, the patron saint of third millennials. 23:33 That would be you and me. Not getting too close to Jesus, unh-unh, but close enough to see 23:38 the action, yep, without having to make any commitment, unh-unh. That's the story of John Mark 23:44 that begins right here. Let's you and me pull out the story pad 23:50 and just sketch a few lines, for surely in this story, you're going to find you 23:56 and I'm going to find me. I believe we will. So let's turn to the first place 24:01 John Mark shows up anywhere in the Bible. Yep. 24:04 Happens to be the upper room. That's right, the upper room where Jesus and the 12 24:10 have just been. John Mark was there. No, no, no, no, no. 24:15 He's not around the table. No. His mother prepared supper 24:19 somewhere else for him. 24:24 I've actually seen it, the room, the house where John Mark lived. Yep. Archeologists have 24:31 excavated the entire house in the city of Jerusalem, and they are absolutely certain 24:37 this is the very house that has a broad and wide upper room. 24:42 I've preached in that upper room. It's big. 24:45 The very house where John Mark lived, the house where the Last Supper 24:52 took place. John Mark was there. The house where Pentecost 24:56 took place and the Holy Spirit is poured out like a firefall. John Mark was there. 25:02 The house where they're gathered tonight with an all-night prayer meeting. 25:05 You know why? Because tomorrow morning, Peter will be beheaded 25:09 if God doesn't intervene. And they're praying their hearts out. 25:14 Yep. We'll go to that moment. John Mark is there. Watch this. First time he appears 25:19 in the New Testament. Here it is. Acts 12:11. 25:22 "Then Peter came to himself." This is Peter, who's been sound asleep. 25:26 On the eve of your death, you're sleeping like a baby? You must be pretty secure. 25:31 And he is. The angels said, "Get up, boy. We got to get out of here." 25:35 Like magic, the doors are open and closing, open, closing. Guards are all asleep. 25:40 Peter thinks, I'm sleepwalking." That's what it is -- He gets out 25:43 in the fresh night air, and it suddenly hits him. Here we go. 25:47 "Then Peter came to himself and said, 'Now I know without a doubt 25:51 that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything 25:56 the Jewish people were hoping would happen' to me." Now it's the next line 26:02 we meet John Mark. When this had dawned on Peter, "He went to the house of Mary, 26:08 the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered 26:14 and were praying." My, my, my. It's the upper room, 26:21 the same upper room. The very first church headquarters for Christianity 26:27 in history is that borrowed house upper room. And John Mark, young John 26:35 was there, because it's not just his mother's house. It's his house, too. 26:39 You bet. It's quite possible, as we put the pieces together, 26:44 that John Mark's dad has died, died young. Must have been wealthy 26:50 because his mother, a wealthy widow, offers her house as the first 26:54 church of Christianity. Interestingly enough, we find the very same generosity 27:01 in somebody else. In the early church story, he, too, is a Jew 27:09 who becomes a Christian. And he steps forward and says, "I have a piece of property, 27:13 and I'm selling that property, and I'm going to give the money to the church." 27:16 And that's what Barnabas does. Barnabas from Cyprus. It must be that 27:22 Mother Mary of John Mark and Barnabas are somehow related. 27:27 Not related only in generosity, by the way. Oh, no. There must be a little 27:30 family tree going on here. And, in fact, when Paul describes John Mark 27:35 in Colossians 4:10, he refers to Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. 27:39 That's how the new translations put it, but the King James actually renders it 27:43 sister's son to Barnabas, because the Greek word can go either way. 27:48 Nephew? Cousin? Hey, we don't know. They're related. 27:53 So who's surprised when Barnabas and Saul, who've been on a mission to Jerusalem, 27:58 by the way, the very night of that prayer meeting, they are in town? 28:02 They've come down from up North, the Gentile bastion called Antioch, 28:07 where they've planted a church. They've come down, and now they're going to go back. 28:12 Who's surprised that when they go back, "Let's make this a party 28:16 of three going home"? Who do you think they might have invited to come along? 28:20 Watch this -- The last line in chapter 12, you don't have to guess. 28:23 "When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission" -- they're in the Holy City -- 28:26 "they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark." 28:34 "Come on up here, Mark. We're going to have a time together." 28:42 Yeah. But the plot thickens now. Turns out 28:47 there's another prayer meeting. Let's go to that prayer meeting. You'll see. 28:51 Very next line is chapter 13. "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, 28:57 the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work 29:02 to which I have called them.'" Oh, I like that. I like that line. 29:07 There are people today who are saying that the Holy Spirit is just this little nothing. 29:10 He's not a member of the Godhead. There is no Godhead. 29:13 Those people are so dead wrong. I'm sorry. The Holy Spirit is 29:18 a separate person. He's a separate being. There's God the Father. 29:22 There's God the Son. And there's God the Holy Spirit. And here he's saying, "Not 29:25 separate them for the Father. Not separate them for the Lord. No, for me. 29:30 I want you to separate Barnabas and Saul for me. I have something for them 29:34 to do." And do you know what? That very same Holy Spirit 29:38 has said that about you when you were born. Yep, just like the little baby 29:43 this morning? Probably. The Holy Spirit said, 29:47 "I want that girl. I have something special for her to do. 29:51 I want that boy. I have something special for him to do." 29:55 I want to tell you something. Your life is no accident. I don't care how you got here 29:59 or why you got here. You're here, and God has wanted you here. 30:03 You're here because God has a -- has a dream, a vision for your life. 30:08 "Set apart that boy for me. Set apart that girl for me." God doesn't need -- 30:14 God doesn't need just anybody. He needs boys and girls who are willing to give everything 30:24 to Him. For what? I mean what do you think 30:28 this work is, this work that the Holy Spirit has? This is a no-brainer. 30:31 You know what the work is? To become an AirTag for Jesus. That's what it is. 30:36 "I want you to help me find lost people." That means no matter what your 30:40 occupation is or ever will be, you still have the same work. You and I have the same work. 30:47 "Help me find. Be an AirTag for me. Help me find the lost. 30:52 I have a special work for you, girl. Boy, I have a special work 30:56 for you." That's why He needs us. Which is why, by the way, 31:01 I remind you, Acts begins with this huge red-letter promise, which we've already been to. 31:05 This winter series is from Acts. You've already picked up on that. 31:08 But let's go back to Acts 1:8, just before Jesus ascends to Heaven, 31:12 He speaks these words. You remember these words? "But you will receive power." 31:16 He's talking to 11 men. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, 31:24 and you will be,"... I promise you. ..."you will be my witnesses 31:29 in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth." 31:35 Come on! Yeah. And I know what you're saying. 31:41 You say, "Not me." "What do you mean, not you?" "No, I mean it. It's not me." 31:45 "You're crazy." "No, I do not have witnessing as my spiritual gift. 31:50 I already know it. Not me." You are so dead wrong. Witnessing is not about 31:57 spiritual gifts. Witnessing is about being a universal role. 32:01 Every man, woman, and child that follows the Lord Jesus immediately has it the moment 32:05 you say, "I'm following You." It's no gift. Everybody has the role. 32:10 "You're going to be a witness for me." I've watched guys fall in love 32:16 on this campus, little tongue-tied dudes that they are. 32:22 I've watched them fall in love. And then I'll bump into them a week later. 32:25 "Yo, bro, tell me about that new girl of yours." >> "Oh! I'm not going to -- 32:32 I'm not going to talk about it. No, I'm not going to talk about her at all." 32:35 "Come on, just show me a picture. You got to have a picture 32:38 on your phone." "No, I'm not going to show anybody a picture. 32:42 I hate to have to do something, and I'm not going to do it." Are you kidding? 32:46 I don't care how tongue-tied that boy is. The moment you ask him about 32:50 that girl, he's all talk. Why? Because he has 32:55 a special relationship with a special somebody. 32:58 "And I'm so glad you asked. Do you have an hour?" 33:02 Come on! I see it all the time. Don't tell me you can't be 33:05 a witness. 33:06 What is a witness? Somebody who has a special relationship with a somebody 33:10 that you haven't met yet, "But I can't show you a picture, but I'm going to tell you all 33:14 about him." That's a witness. You don't do it because 33:18 you're obligated. You do it because you get to do it. 33:22 Ah! So what does Jesus say here? "When the Holy Spirit 33:28 comes upon you." "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you," you little tongue-tied 33:34 boy. "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you," you little tongue-tied 33:39 girl. "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, 33:43 you will be my witness to the end of the world." Yeah. 33:52 How cool is that? Well, the prayer meeting is just ending. 33:56 We got -- We caught them right at the end. So here's the next line. 34:00 "So after they had fasted and prayed" -- This is up in Antioch, remember? 34:03 Paul and Barnabas. "After they had fasted and prayed, they placed 34:06 their hands on," the two of them, and they sent them off. 34:10 "Here we go. The adventure begins. The two of them sent 34:13 on their way." And I love this -- "Sent on their way by the Holy Spirit." 34:16 The Spirit's the one who sends you places. They went down to Seleucia 34:21 and sailed from there to Cyprus, Barnabas' homeland, home island. "When they arrived at Salamis, 34:28 they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues." And here it comes. 34:32 "John was with them as their helper." That's John. 34:37 That's John Mark, the young John. There he is. 34:42 Oh, wow. But after -- Oh, mercy. After a harrowing experience 34:49 with a demonic sorcerer, John Mark is saying, "I'm not so sure 34:57 about this calling business. This is tough sledding." "Oh, come on, boy. 35:03 You'll get over it. It gets better." Verse 13. From Paphos. 35:08 So they're leaving Cyprus now. "Paul and his companion sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, 35:13 where John" -- Oh. "Where John left them." 35:19 Can you believe that? "Where John left them to return to Jerusalem." 35:28 Ah, bummer. I can't believe that. [ Scoffs ] 35:35 John Mark, patron saint for third millennials. 35:39 [ Sighs ] Maybe that's you, maybe that's me 35:43 chickening out on God. Isn't that what we do? 35:47 We chicken out on God. "Can't do it." 35:51 [ Clicking tongue ] "Not for me." 35:54 Hey, listen, folks, we might as well admit it. Our default focus 35:58 as a generation alive today is "me, me, me." We've been well-school. 36:08 Thank you, Abraham Maslow, for teaching us that the highest -- the high-octane 36:13 pinnacle of human need, the top of that pyramid, what is it? Come on, scholars. What is it? 36:18 Self-actualization. 36:23 And we forget that we've been schooled by a Jesus of Calvary who says, "If you want that 36:29 high-octane pinnacle, it's not self-actualization. It's self-crucifixion. 36:38 You offer yourself as a sacrifice for others." That's what Jesus says. 36:48 Jesus says, "You who live in a 'me, me, me' world, I have to change -- 36:55 I have to change the pronoun. Third person. Them. 37:01 Them. Them. I have to move from 37:04 first person to third person so that you can do what you were born to do, 37:10 what I've called you to do. Set apart that boy for me. Set apart that girl for me. 37:15 Please, I got them." You got to move from 'me, me, me' to 37:20 'them, them, them.' And who are the them, them, them? 37:23 They are the lost, lost, lost. That's what they are. That's it. It's a no-brainer. 37:29 Guess what? I can't preach this in to you. And you cannot preach it 37:35 into me, and I cannot preach it into me. I'm wrapping up 50 years 37:39 as a pastor, 40 years right here on this campus. 37:43 I'm wrapping it up. I've tried. Oh, through the years, 37:47 I have tried to preach it in to you. Preach it in to you. 37:52 But finally -- Some stuff doesn't come till late in life. Finally, it has occurred to me. 37:57 You can't preach it in to nobody. There's only one way 38:01 you can go from "me, me, me" to "them, them, them." Only one way. 38:06 And it's this. I'm absolutely convinced. You have to ask for it. 38:12 You have to pray for it. And if you're saying, "This is so simple, this is so 38:16 simplistic," the reason you're saying it, I'm letting you know, is because you have no idea 38:23 of the transfer yet. You haven't made it yet. And that's why it's no big deal. 38:29 Oh, it's a big deal. It's a huge prayer. "God, move me from 'me, me, me,' 38:34 please, to 'them, them, them.'" Come on, I'm going to get really up front and up close 38:39 and personal with you now. When's the last time -- I'm serious. 38:43 When's the last time you left your little morning worship -- whatever it is, 38:46 wherever it is -- when's the last time you left with a prayer to Jesus? 38:51 Simple little prayer might go something like this. "Lord, make me a humble witness 38:56 for You today. Let me cross the path of someone who is lost. 39:03 And let me bring You to them." I.E., in other words, "Make me an AirTag today. 39:13 I'll find them for you." Do you know what? God cannot do it. 39:19 God cannot do what He's asking you to do. That's why He's asking you. 39:23 If He could do it, He would do it. If He shows up, it's over. 39:26 Nobody will listen to Him. Nobody does anyway. If He shows up, they're gone. 39:32 He says, "I need somebody that looks like her. I need somebody that acts 39:36 like him to show up for me. You'll be way better at this than I am. 39:42 When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be -- I promise you -- 39:46 you will be a witness for me." It's just, we got to get the Holy Spirit. 39:52 Well, that's not so complicated. Have you prayed this prayer? I'll be honest. I'm just going 39:57 to really be up front with you. There are many days I don't pray it, either. 40:02 Many days. I'm only at the end of my -- I'm not going to say life, 40:07 but at the end of my career, so to speak, starting to get it. 40:15 I repeat, there is no other way to shift our focus from "me, me, me" 40:21 to "them, them, them." We must ask for it. We must pray for it. 40:26 But why do it? Because you've been born for it. You were born for this. 40:31 And if you do it, you will realize your destiny. Without it, your destiny 40:36 is incomplete. I'm telling you the truth. That's why this is so important. 40:45 You got to pray it. Hey, by the way, this prayer that you and I have been 40:48 looking at in the few weeks that we've been in the Book of Acts, Acts 4:29, 40:54 you remember that prayer? I'll put it on the screen for you. 40:57 "Now, Lord, enable your servants." Listen, you're a servant 41:01 of Jesus, I'm a servant of Jesus. "Now, Lord, enable your servants 41:04 to speak Your word with great boldness." That is not 41:08 a "me, me, me" prayer. A "me, me, me" prayer would have been, "Keep me out of jail. 41:12 Just keep me out of jail." That would have been "me, me." No, no, it's "them, them, them." 41:17 "Help me to do it better. Give me great boldness. I want to articulate for You. 41:21 I want to speak for You. I want to do this with all the power 41:25 that You promised. Enable me." That's a "them, them, them" 41:31 prayer right there. Ellen White, that little American -- that American 41:35 writer, she pleads for us to pray the prayer that will get us from "me, me, me" 41:41 to "them, them, them." I've been carrying this quotation around for years. 41:45 I want to share it with you now. It's a good time. Put it on the screen. 41:49 Watch this. Are you using all your powers, Dwight, 41:55 "In an effort to bring the lost sheep back to the fold?" I want to insert your name. 42:02 "Are you using all your powers"... You just inserted it. Good. 42:07 ..."in an effort to bring the lost sheep back?" This has nothing to do with 42:10 your occupation. This has nothing to do with how you make money. 42:13 This has nothing to do with nothing. If you're human and you've 42:18 accepted Jesus, I'm asking you a personal question. Are you using all your powers 42:23 in an effort to bring the lost sheep back to the fold? There are thousands, boy. 42:27 There are thousands and thousands in ignorance who might be warned. 42:32 Keep reading. "Pray as you have never prayed before." 42:36 That's pretty intense. "Pray as you have never prayed before for the power of Christ." 42:43 Now, here it comes. "Pray for the inspiration of His Spirit, that you may be 42:48 filled with a"... What is this word here? That's all -- That's all 42:54 this quotation is asking. You just ask for the desire. You don't ask for the event. 42:58 You don't ask for the act. You don't ask for nothing. You just say, "Give me 43:01 the desire." Ask for the desire. "Pray for the inspiration 43:07 of His Spirit, that you may become filled with a desire to save those who are 43:11 perishing." Ask God to give you the desire, because once the desire 43:19 is there, you will act on it. That's the deal. If the desire is there, 43:24 you will act on it. The reason you're not acting on it is because 43:28 the desire is not there. You're trying to force something. 43:32 "Do I have to show you her picture? Do I have to tell you about her? 43:36 Why are you making me do this?" The desire is not there. You have to ask for the desire 43:41 to be implanted in your heart. This is key. This is huge. If you take this one line away, 43:47 that's all I'm standing up here for, is that you'll go away and you'll go back to your room 43:51 and you're going to pray, "God, I need the desire to reach lost people. 43:56 I'm not asking you to help me reach lost people. I just need the desire to." 43:59 Because once you have the desire, you can't help it. You will do it. 44:05 I'm promising you the truth. You will do it. That's why that prayer 44:13 is critical. Because if you don't want to, God's not going to make you 44:17 do it. Why would He? He's ruining your life. 44:22 No, He's not ruining your life. He's giving you a chance to move into your sweet spot of destiny. 44:31 But He can't get there unless you want to get there. "Give me the desire. 44:37 Give me the desire." Wow. And that's what's happening to 44:41 to John Mark, by the way. He quits. He ducks out of the missionary 44:46 team called Paul and Barnabas. He's gone. "I'm out here. I'm back to Mommy. 44:50 I'm back to my bed at home. I'm back in Jerusalem now. Hallelujah. 44:55 Goodbye tough work." Hmm. And he would have disappeared 45:00 from history were it not for the God who never gives up on us, 45:05 who never gave up on John Mark, either. God said, "No, you can run. 45:11 You can run, but you can't hide. I came back to Jerusalem with you. 45:16 Don't quit. Do not quit." Some of you have tried 45:20 witnessing before and you're absolutely convinced, "I can't do it." 45:23 Yes, you can. Of course you can't. But the spirit who is in you 45:28 will do it. And He'll give you a freedom that you've never known before. 45:33 That's why you were born. Just ask for the desire. 45:40 Winston Churchill. These words are reputed to have been spoken by him. 45:45 I'm going to put them on the screen here. "Success is not final. 45:48 Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." 45:54 Don't quit. I know you've tried it before, maybe. 45:57 You're a teen -- You're a teen, and you say, "I've never tried it before." 46:01 Oh, you're perfect. You're ready to go. Just like John Mark, 46:04 you're ready to go. You've tried it before, and you failed -- Forget it. 46:07 What is this? "Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. 46:11 It is the courage -- It is the courage to continue that counts." 46:15 Praise God Barnabas continued with John -- young John Mark. 46:19 He continued to mentor young John Mark. And so did Peter, 46:23 back at church headquarters, by the way, in Jerusalem. Peter saw that boy coming. 46:29 Peter says, "I can do something with this boy." The boy feels like a failure. 46:34 Peter says, "How do you think I feel? I shamed myself. 46:39 I shamed my Lord. The whole world heard me crash and burn. 46:44 I did it. Come here, John Mark." Peter puts his arm around 46:51 that boy like a whipped puppy, and he says, "Come here. Come on. 46:55 You and I are going to start over together. We'll be fine. You'll make it." 47:01 Oh, thank God for Godly mentors, men and women that just feel burdened to do something for the 47:07 young that they move among. That's what a teacher is. A teacher is a mentor. 47:11 I don't care what your subject is or discipline, whether you're a graduate or undergraduate. 47:14 It makes no difference. You are a mentor of the young who have paid big bucks 47:19 to sit at your feet. That's what mentors do. They just put their arms around 47:25 and just love on them. And you do it well. We got some -- We have some 47:28 wonderful mentors sitting here right now, sitting in this community 47:33 right now, loving on the young who are hoping, "Somebody will take me when I crash and burn 47:38 and say, 'Girl, it's not the end. You're going to be okay. 47:43 And I'll be with you, boy.'" Yeah. Wow. 47:49 Scholars believe, in fact, that -- Well, let me just show you. 47:53 There's not a whole lot of scholarship to draw this conclusion, because when Peter 47:56 writes a letter from Rome, watch what he says at the end of 1 Peter, chapter 5. 48:01 Here we go. "She who is in Babylon" -- That's code language in case 48:04 a letter ever gets picked up and turned in to the authorities. "She who is in Babylon" -- 48:09 Where's Babylon? Nobody knows. But the Christians know that's Rome. 48:12 "She who was in Babylon" -- In other words, a church in Babylon, "Chosen together with 48:15 you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark." 48:24 That mentoring has meant Mark has gone with Peter to Rome. Scholars believe Mark is there 48:30 translating for Peter. Mark is bilingual. And scholars say, 48:37 "You know what? That explains it. That explains that he's been 48:40 following Peter around. He's been -- All that Peter knows how to 48:44 preach are the stories of Jesus." "When I was with Jesus"... 48:48 And Mark has heard every storyteller, he could do it himself. 48:51 And one day, the Spirit said, "Hey, Mark, you've heard all those stories. 48:53 Why don't you put them down? They'll call it the Gospel of Mark. 48:57 But you and I know it's the gospel according to Peter." And it is. 49:01 Scholars are clear these are Peter's stories. You can tell by the details 49:05 that Mark inserts that no other gospel writer does. Oh, when you feel like 49:12 you've crashed and burned, somebody comes on -- comes along and loves on you, 49:16 and suddenly, your life story has been rewritten, and you are ending in a way you 49:21 never knew could be possible. Mark is in Rome... 49:33 ...when two of his heroes, Paul and Peter, are executed. Paul a hero? 49:42 Mark a whipped puppy? Hey, I got some good news for you. 49:47 The story gets even better. Somewhere along this bumpy way, Paul, who accused 49:50 Mark of desertion -- "And you will never work with me again. 49:53 Do you understand it? You failure!" Somewhere along the way, 50:00 those two men were reconciled. Paul mentions Mark four times, and he can't say enough 50:05 about him. I'm going to go to the last one because Paul is going to die 50:08 in just a few weeks. He has no idea. He's writing to another young 50:12 friend of his named Timothy. He says, "Timothy, you've got to get here. 50:14 Get here before winter. I don't know if I will make it." But notice what he says. 50:18 "I'm in prison. I'm in prison in Rome." And he says, "Only Luke" -- 50:25 Good to have a doc with you. "Only Luke is with me." Hey, come on, Timothy, "Get Mark 50:32 and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." 50:39 God can take the most emotional breakup and heal it 50:47 and put the pieces back together so that everybody wins. Isn't that something? 50:53 "Come on. He's helpful to me. This is my boy." 50:56 Peter calls him "his boy." Paul calls him "his boy." 51:01 That's John Mark, patron saint of third millennials, 51:05 who after Paul is beheaded and Peter is crucified, 51:11 tradition says, upside down, John Mark steps into -- 51:14 steps onto a ship, sails across the Mediterranean, 51:18 sails to Africa, to Egypt, moves into the city of Alexandria, 51:22 and tradition is clear. He plants a church, the first 51:27 Christian church in Alexandria, the first Christian church 51:30 in Africa. John Mark, 51:35 the crash-and-burn failure, becomes a hero because 51:40 God never gave up on him, and neither did his mentors. 51:44 Wow. They were -- John Mark made such an impact on Alexandria, 51:49 they celebrated it by tying a rope around his neck and dragging him through 51:53 the city until he was dead. Adios. John Mark was the first to ever 51:59 record these words of Jesus. We heard them just a moment ago. Hear the words again. 52:04 Mark 8:35. "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, 52:10 but whoever loses their life for me," and only Mark adds, "and the Gospel," 52:16 because Mark has learned that's what you sacrifice for. "And the Gospel." 52:21 Only Mark will include that. But, "Whoever loses their life for me and the Gospel" 52:27 will what? Save it. Save it. 52:32 The boy died. Saved. Because God doesn't know a failure 52:43 when you're His friend. And that was John Mark, patron saint of third millennials. 52:49 It's the only way, by the way, to move from "me, me, me" to "them, them, them" -- 52:56 right there. Take the cross. You'll be fine. 53:04 I'm going to send that prayer to you. Let's go to the Connect Card, 53:07 and then I'll pray with you. Go to the Connect Card. Do it on your device. 53:11 You know the number -- 269-281-2345. I want to send that prayer 53:15 to you so that you can print it off. You can keep it where you have 53:18 your morning prayers or your night prayers or whenever. Just text "MISSION4" 53:26 to these numbers -- 269-281-2345. 53:30 And you'll get immediately -- You'll get the Connect Card. 53:34 And it'll have three next steps. Here are the three. 53:37 Number one, "I want to move from 'me, me, me' focus 53:40 to a them, them, them' focus." Oh, boy. Me too. 53:43 Sign me up, Jesus. Get me out of the "me" mode. 53:47 Get me into the "them" mentality, please. 53:52 Put a checkmark there. Put a checkmark here, and this will be the prayer, now. 53:56 "Please send me that prayer I can pray each new day." And here's the prayer. 53:59 "God, grant me the power of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 54:03 that I may be filled with the desire -- with the desire 54:08 to save those who are lost." You click that box, you just hit "send," that prayer 54:13 will come to you in a reply. You'll get it as a text reply. You will have that prayer. 54:18 There's one more box. "I want to be baptized in Jesus and receive the power 54:22 of the Holy Spirit to ignite my witness for Christ." That's how you move from the 54:28 "me, me, me" to the "them, them, them." You follow Jesus. 54:31 You get baptized. Some of you have not been baptized. 54:34 I have no idea why. It's none of my business, really. 54:38 But I wish you would make a decision to be. 54:40 It's as simple as making a decision. 54:42 There'll be no angels singing when you click that box. 54:45 The angels sing when you get baptized, trust me. 54:48 More joy in Heaven over one sinner who gets saved. 54:54 But just click the box. It's that easy. Why wait? Come on. Click the box. 55:02 "I want to follow Jesus. I want to move out of my 'me, me, me' state. 55:07 And I want to help Him to reach the 'them, them, them.'" Just click that box, sitting 55:14 in the back of the church, sitting in the balcony. You're online right now. 55:18 Be good for you just to do this. Because you want to -- you want to follow Jesus, as well. 55:24 You click that box, and somewhere on the planet, we'll get your decision 55:28 to somebody near to you than we are. We'll get in touch with you 55:32 electronically if you haven't made a decision to follow Jesus. 55:35 Come on. John Mark -- Take a page out of his playbook. 55:41 Be sold out for Christ. I want to pray with you. Oh, Jesus, Heavenly Father, 55:49 Holy Spirit, separate those girls, separate those boys, 55:57 separate that people for me. I have a work to do. We want to be -- 56:06 We want to be in that. So do whatever it takes. Just give us the courage to pray 56:12 the prayer, give me the desire. Dear God, give me the desire to save lost people, 56:18 to reach lost people. Let me be an AirTag for you. I'm willing. 56:22 It's not glamorous. It's what You need. And I want to be what You need 56:28 until I die. Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? 56:36 No, there's a cross for everyone. And there's a cross for me. 56:48 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 56:50 from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision -- and 56:53 you know this is true -- not to continually appeal to you for 56:56 that support. But the fact is, as everyone in 56:59 the industry will tell you, we need to be making constant 57:02 upgrades to our technology. While I'll be leaving Pioneer 57:06 soon, I'm confident that God has a plan to continue growing the 57:09 media ministry here with a new leader. 57:12 The new lead pastor will need your support in prayer 57:15 and financially. If God has blessed you and 57:18 you'd like to further the work of this ministry, we invite you 57:21 to partner with us. Every bit of your gift goes to 57:24 the mission of blessing your community and our world. 57:27 You can donate on our website. Here's the website -- 57:30 pmchurch.org. Then click "giving" 57:33 up at the top. And then select "media 57:35 ministry." Or you can call the number. 57:37 877-HIS-WILL. Again, that number is 877 and 57:41 then the two words "HIS-WILL." My prayer is that the God who 57:46 has blessed you will continue to pour into your life the gifts 57:49 of His joy and His hope. So thank you in advance 57:54 for your gracious generosity. 58:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:20 ♪♪ |
Revised 2023-02-20