1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,050 Speaker: I'm excited to be here. 2 00:00:01,140 --> 00:00:02,970 Uh, for those of you who don't know me, my name's Lewis. 3 00:00:02,970 --> 00:00:07,859 I'm the student ministry director here at Compass Baer North Texas, and I 4 00:00:07,859 --> 00:00:10,590 have the privilege of, of preaching this morning, so I'm really excited to. 5 00:00:11,219 --> 00:00:15,480 To be doing this, we're gonna be in Acts chapter six and seven. 6 00:00:15,660 --> 00:00:16,110 All right. 7 00:00:16,110 --> 00:00:19,440 I'm glad we don't have a lot of students here because this would, this would 8 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,970 be a thing for the rest of the sermon. 9 00:00:20,970 --> 00:00:22,560 So, Angelo, stop it. 10 00:00:22,770 --> 00:00:23,639 We're not doing that. 11 00:00:23,669 --> 00:00:23,940 Okay? 12 00:00:23,940 --> 00:00:27,360 This is not student ministry, but we're gonna be in Acts chapter six 13 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,060 and verse and, uh, chapter seven. 14 00:00:30,060 --> 00:00:31,770 And we're gonna be looking at Steven, right? 15 00:00:31,770 --> 00:00:36,750 This series, we're looking at godly men who show us what it looks like 16 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:38,250 to follow God faithfully, right? 17 00:00:38,250 --> 00:00:38,759 Resolve. 18 00:00:38,759 --> 00:00:39,509 That's our series. 19 00:00:39,855 --> 00:00:42,885 And so we're gonna be looking at the example of Stephen, the 20 00:00:42,885 --> 00:00:46,695 very first martyr of the church. 21 00:00:47,055 --> 00:00:50,325 And here in our passage there's something really, really interesting. 22 00:00:50,325 --> 00:00:51,705 It starts with a problem. 23 00:00:51,765 --> 00:00:56,565 If you look at Acts chapter six, the first few verses, there's, there's a problem. 24 00:00:57,285 --> 00:01:02,970 There's these people, the, the Hellen, the Greek church members, they're complaining. 25 00:01:03,644 --> 00:01:08,655 Against the Hebrews, the Jewish church members, because their widows aren't 26 00:01:08,655 --> 00:01:13,005 getting fed, their widows aren't getting enough food, and so there's a problem. 27 00:01:13,244 --> 00:01:15,015 There's partiality, right? 28 00:01:15,015 --> 00:01:17,054 There's maybe even racism here. 29 00:01:17,054 --> 00:01:18,554 There's division in the church. 30 00:01:18,554 --> 00:01:19,244 This is a big deal. 31 00:01:19,244 --> 00:01:20,895 This is a big problem. 32 00:01:21,825 --> 00:01:23,625 And so what do the apostles do? 33 00:01:23,684 --> 00:01:23,925 Right? 34 00:01:23,925 --> 00:01:26,804 The apostles, these are the guys who walked with Jesus. 35 00:01:26,804 --> 00:01:28,244 He taught them for three years. 36 00:01:28,395 --> 00:01:30,825 What do these guys decide to do? 37 00:01:31,455 --> 00:01:36,045 Well, instead of starting a church program, right, a, a widow's feeding 38 00:01:36,045 --> 00:01:40,995 ministry instead of a sermon series on the importance of not showing favoritism 39 00:01:40,995 --> 00:01:44,054 instead of a food bank, instead of a woman's outreach for the widows. 40 00:01:44,054 --> 00:01:46,365 What do these apostles do? 41 00:01:47,145 --> 00:01:50,780 They say, we need godly men. 42 00:01:51,550 --> 00:01:55,214 Godly men are going to be the solution to this problem. 43 00:01:55,335 --> 00:01:57,045 Look at verse three. 44 00:01:57,345 --> 00:01:59,955 They say, therefore, brothers, pick out from among you. 45 00:02:00,315 --> 00:02:03,165 Seven men of good repute, right? 46 00:02:03,225 --> 00:02:06,795 Godly men, good character, full of the spirit and of wisdom whom 47 00:02:06,795 --> 00:02:08,805 we will appoint to this duty. 48 00:02:09,854 --> 00:02:13,335 They find godly men to serve the church. 49 00:02:14,145 --> 00:02:17,260 One of the biggest needs in any church, just like the church here in Acts six. 50 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:19,740 Is godly men. 51 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,590 That's the biggest need in our church. 52 00:02:22,590 --> 00:02:28,860 Godly men, men who love Jesus, who lead their families and follow God's word. 53 00:02:28,950 --> 00:02:31,770 And that's what we're here to talk about is godly men. 54 00:02:32,010 --> 00:02:35,940 And part of the reason for that is Jesus gave his church a mission, right? 55 00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:39,540 And, and as men, we are to be leading in that mission. 56 00:02:40,230 --> 00:02:42,570 Godly men have. 57 00:02:43,125 --> 00:02:46,395 First century shouldered the burden of Jesus' mission for his church. 58 00:02:46,395 --> 00:02:46,635 Right? 59 00:02:46,635 --> 00:02:49,545 Go therefore and make disciples. 60 00:02:50,115 --> 00:02:51,195 That's our mission here. 61 00:02:51,285 --> 00:02:54,915 And so to accomplish this mission, we need godly men, not just godly men of 62 00:02:54,915 --> 00:02:57,825 character, godly men of courage as well. 63 00:02:57,825 --> 00:03:02,085 And that's what we're gonna be talking about is Stephen's Gospel Courage. 64 00:03:02,475 --> 00:03:08,655 Courageous men like Steven, courage is a key component to manhood. 65 00:03:09,165 --> 00:03:11,445 This isn't our our verse for this morning, but I want you 66 00:03:11,445 --> 00:03:12,465 to see something about this. 67 00:03:12,825 --> 00:03:14,385 Courage and manhood connection. 68 00:03:14,385 --> 00:03:19,065 One Corinthians 1613, Paul's writing, and he, he uses this, this verb, 69 00:03:19,065 --> 00:03:23,355 this is one verb in Paul's original language, act like men, and this 70 00:03:23,355 --> 00:03:24,495 is a command to the whole church. 71 00:03:24,885 --> 00:03:25,875 And he says, act like men. 72 00:03:25,905 --> 00:03:26,445 What does that mean? 73 00:03:26,655 --> 00:03:29,655 Well, if you, if you're familiar with the story of Joshua, right? 74 00:03:29,655 --> 00:03:32,595 When, when the Lord calls Joshua to go into the promised land, he says, 75 00:03:32,595 --> 00:03:34,545 be strong and courageous, right? 76 00:03:34,545 --> 00:03:35,265 Joshua one nine. 77 00:03:35,265 --> 00:03:39,795 A lot of your kids probably know that verse Joshua one, nine In the Greek Old 78 00:03:39,795 --> 00:03:41,325 Testament, that's the same word here. 79 00:03:41,325 --> 00:03:41,655 Courageous. 80 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:43,710 Act like men courageous. 81 00:03:43,710 --> 00:03:46,980 So there's something that God wants us to know about manhood 82 00:03:46,980 --> 00:03:48,420 that is tied with courage. 83 00:03:48,870 --> 00:03:51,600 Manhood and courage are tied together and you know that experientially 84 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,730 right from any good movie, right? 85 00:03:53,730 --> 00:03:57,780 Any good movie has courageous men in it, right? 86 00:03:57,780 --> 00:04:01,530 From Lord of the Rings to Captain America, right? 87 00:04:01,530 --> 00:04:03,240 Any godly any. 88 00:04:04,215 --> 00:04:07,065 Any good movie, not Godly movie, any, well, Lord of the 89 00:04:07,065 --> 00:04:08,235 Rings is a godly movie, right? 90 00:04:08,535 --> 00:04:09,375 We're all clear about that. 91 00:04:09,555 --> 00:04:09,945 All right. 92 00:04:10,035 --> 00:04:13,395 Um, in college, I, I was at a bible college and one of the classes was 93 00:04:13,395 --> 00:04:14,955 Theology and Lord of the Rings. 94 00:04:15,075 --> 00:04:19,065 And literally all of this class was just, you get to watch clips of Lord 95 00:04:19,065 --> 00:04:21,404 of the Rings and the professor just uses it as a sermon illustration. 96 00:04:21,435 --> 00:04:22,185 That was the whole class. 97 00:04:22,245 --> 00:04:27,435 Anyway, um, any good movie has courageous men, right? 98 00:04:27,465 --> 00:04:31,635 Because there, there's that inextricable link between courage and a manhood. 99 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,970 And that's what we're gonna see in Steven's story. 100 00:04:36,150 --> 00:04:36,630 All right? 101 00:04:36,690 --> 00:04:41,040 We're gonna see in, in these two chapters what gave Steven 102 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,540 such great courage, specifically in his witness and evangelism. 103 00:04:46,170 --> 00:04:49,740 So that's why we're gonna be talking about gospel courage and 104 00:04:49,830 --> 00:04:51,570 the way I'm defining gospel courage. 105 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:55,920 Is courage to embrace and announce the gospel, right? 106 00:04:56,010 --> 00:04:57,480 Courage to affirm the gospel. 107 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,900 Courage to love the gospel, even when people don't want you to love the gospel. 108 00:05:01,005 --> 00:05:03,120 E, courage to announce it, courage to tell people about it. 109 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:04,950 Courage to bring it up in your conversations. 110 00:05:04,950 --> 00:05:09,960 That's the type of courage that we need for our church right here, right now. 111 00:05:10,170 --> 00:05:11,430 Gospel courage. 112 00:05:12,420 --> 00:05:17,940 What gave Steven such great courage in his witness and evangelism? 113 00:05:17,970 --> 00:05:21,810 Well, the first thing I want us to see about Steven is his character. 114 00:05:22,230 --> 00:05:24,960 Look with me at verses three, right? 115 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:25,950 We start in verse three. 116 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:30,090 Um, pick out seven men of good repute, full of the spirit, full of wisdom. 117 00:05:30,090 --> 00:05:32,909 So there's saying we need men who have godly character. 118 00:05:33,060 --> 00:05:35,520 We need men who are filled with the Holy Spirit. 119 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,480 We need men who are wise, who know how to use God's word in everyday life. 120 00:05:40,365 --> 00:05:42,405 That's the kind of men that they're looking for. 121 00:05:43,185 --> 00:05:46,065 And then they, in verse five, what they said, please, the whole 122 00:05:46,065 --> 00:05:49,095 gathering, and they chose Steven and what's Steven known for? 123 00:05:49,095 --> 00:05:49,275 Right? 124 00:05:49,275 --> 00:05:51,135 What's Steven's LinkedIn bio. 125 00:05:51,135 --> 00:05:52,095 What's Steven's? 126 00:05:52,335 --> 00:05:54,375 What's What's, what do you think of when you think of Stephen? 127 00:05:54,795 --> 00:05:58,275 He's full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. 128 00:05:59,055 --> 00:06:01,905 That's what Luke, the author of Acts, wants you to know about Stephen. 129 00:06:02,115 --> 00:06:04,725 That's what the apostles thought of when they thought of Stephen. 130 00:06:05,115 --> 00:06:06,015 Full of faith. 131 00:06:06,015 --> 00:06:08,985 He trusts God and of the Holy Spirit. 132 00:06:08,985 --> 00:06:11,835 And that's what they thought of when they thought of Steven. 133 00:06:11,835 --> 00:06:15,015 Stephen is well known to be a righteous man. 134 00:06:15,555 --> 00:06:18,735 He's well known to be living in step with God's spirit. 135 00:06:19,395 --> 00:06:24,495 Stephen didn't just wake up one day ready to be the first martyr of the church. 136 00:06:25,215 --> 00:06:30,375 Stephen's courage was built on a lifetime of growth in Christ-like character. 137 00:06:31,650 --> 00:06:35,640 A Christ-like character is the fertile soil for gospel courage. 138 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:36,479 And that's our first point. 139 00:06:36,659 --> 00:06:41,789 Ground gospel courage in a holy life ground, right? 140 00:06:41,849 --> 00:06:44,550 The foundation, like when you're building something right, you put the, you put 141 00:06:44,550 --> 00:06:50,340 those foundational pillars in, in, you want to put it in a, in a good setting 142 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,120 ground gospel, courage in a holy life. 143 00:06:56,700 --> 00:07:01,620 See, a lot of times your personal life will reflect your buy-in to your mission. 144 00:07:02,700 --> 00:07:04,560 I heard this story a few years ago. 145 00:07:04,770 --> 00:07:07,920 Um, I, I don't remember where I heard it from, but someone was telling me, 146 00:07:08,250 --> 00:07:11,610 um, about some Mormon missionaries that they invited into their home. 147 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:14,400 They knocked on their door and they invited their home. 148 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,845 They, they, and the Mormons uncharacteristically seemed very just 149 00:07:19,185 --> 00:07:20,940 not excited to be talking to them. 150 00:07:21,060 --> 00:07:22,660 They almost seemed like they were trying to get out of this meeting. 151 00:07:23,820 --> 00:07:25,440 And so they had 'em over for dinner. 152 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,659 They're, they're talking, they're, they're asking them questions. 153 00:07:27,659 --> 00:07:30,390 They're, they're doing their thing and the Mormons just don't seem into it. 154 00:07:31,469 --> 00:07:35,159 And they don't wanna really open up their, the Book of Mormon with them. 155 00:07:35,159 --> 00:07:36,479 They don't wanna open the Bible with them. 156 00:07:36,479 --> 00:07:37,680 They're, they're very reluctant. 157 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:38,670 And he hesitant. 158 00:07:39,510 --> 00:07:42,840 And eventually they finally get them to open up the, their 159 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:43,950 copy of the Book of Mormon. 160 00:07:44,219 --> 00:07:49,200 And the missionaries have weed in their, like in the pages of the Book of Mormon. 161 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:49,289 Huh. 162 00:07:51,450 --> 00:07:51,840 Right. 163 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:53,070 Like crazy. 164 00:07:54,450 --> 00:07:57,240 These guys are supposed to be like, they've, they've uprooted their 165 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,820 whole life to, to be here, right? 166 00:07:59,820 --> 00:08:04,020 To, to go on mission for these two years and, and they don't care, right? 167 00:08:04,020 --> 00:08:07,380 They're, they're here because they want to do something else, right? 168 00:08:07,585 --> 00:08:12,690 They personal life reflected their buy into the mission, right? 169 00:08:12,990 --> 00:08:16,229 I could tell you I've never met these, those two missionaries, right? 170 00:08:16,229 --> 00:08:18,570 And I could tell you, man, those guys don't really care. 171 00:08:18,869 --> 00:08:19,710 About Joseph Smith. 172 00:08:19,950 --> 00:08:22,710 Those guys, those guys don't really care about the Book of Mormon. 173 00:08:22,710 --> 00:08:26,070 Those guys don't really care about telling other people what 174 00:08:26,070 --> 00:08:28,379 they think is the gospel, right? 175 00:08:29,340 --> 00:08:32,159 I could tell you just based on that one conversation, 176 00:08:34,438 --> 00:08:38,039 and I trust you already know this, but I have to start here, that gospel 177 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:43,169 courage and evangelism must always be accompanied by holy living and 178 00:08:43,169 --> 00:08:47,819 Christ-like witness your holiness can make or break your evangelism, right? 179 00:08:47,819 --> 00:08:48,510 If those Mormons. 180 00:08:49,170 --> 00:08:53,160 We're talking to someone and trying to convert them to Mormonism and they 181 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,610 see, oh, you actually don't really care about this, right, that you're just here 182 00:08:56,610 --> 00:08:58,770 to, to, so I don't get fined, right? 183 00:08:59,430 --> 00:09:00,569 It's my Seahawks fan up there. 184 00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:05,700 Um, you're not really on the mission because you're not bought in. 185 00:09:08,970 --> 00:09:12,480 You can also do great harm to the name of Christ through your 186 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:13,980 reputation and your character. 187 00:09:14,250 --> 00:09:14,520 Right? 188 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,080 And we all know this, but. 189 00:09:16,515 --> 00:09:21,255 You can try to be courageous for the gospel and come in guns blazing, 190 00:09:21,375 --> 00:09:24,765 trying to look to, to prove that you're right and win the argument. 191 00:09:25,875 --> 00:09:29,805 And that's actually sometimes gonna do harm to the name of Christ. 192 00:09:29,834 --> 00:09:34,574 You're gonna dishonor God in trying to be courageous. 193 00:09:35,595 --> 00:09:41,745 The the man that you are, the man that I am has a great impact on. 194 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,920 Whether we're really actually courageous or whether we're just brash and arrogant. 195 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:47,400 Right. 196 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,530 There's a, there's a big distinction between those things. 197 00:09:49,530 --> 00:09:51,569 Courage is not arrogance. 198 00:09:52,410 --> 00:09:54,780 Courage comes from Christlike character. 199 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:56,160 Right? 200 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,490 And we, we talked about this in our, our series through the, through 201 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,400 Titus and, and first Timothy, right, where we talked about qualify. 202 00:10:02,849 --> 00:10:07,500 We want to be men who are not undermining the credibility of 203 00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:10,980 Jesus and his church through our. 204 00:10:11,969 --> 00:10:15,989 Our own personal life, but also your own personal life will impact 205 00:10:15,989 --> 00:10:19,020 your desire for evangelism, right? 206 00:10:19,199 --> 00:10:23,339 Your closeness with God will motivate you to tell people about him. 207 00:10:24,150 --> 00:10:28,319 If you're not very excited about God, of course you're not gonna be 208 00:10:28,319 --> 00:10:33,780 courageous for him if you're not very excited because man, you've, 209 00:10:33,780 --> 00:10:35,189 you're holding on to hidden sin. 210 00:10:35,189 --> 00:10:36,359 You've got unconfessed sin. 211 00:10:36,660 --> 00:10:39,359 You're, you're unrepentant sin, or you're not really just bought in. 212 00:10:39,390 --> 00:10:41,160 You don't really believe the things. 213 00:10:41,430 --> 00:10:43,860 That God says in his word, of course, you're not gonna be 214 00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:45,000 excited to tell people about it. 215 00:10:45,209 --> 00:10:48,780 Of course you're gonna shrink back because you're, you're really 216 00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:51,449 not all in on God's mission. 217 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,650 Something that we see in these chapters is that Holy living 218 00:10:55,860 --> 00:10:57,270 comes from the Holy Spirit, right? 219 00:10:57,270 --> 00:10:58,469 We saw that in verses three and five. 220 00:10:58,620 --> 00:11:00,780 These men are full of the Holy Spirit. 221 00:11:00,870 --> 00:11:02,130 Stephen is full of the Holy Spirit. 222 00:11:02,130 --> 00:11:02,459 What does that? 223 00:11:02,969 --> 00:11:03,240 Right. 224 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,150 If you talk about the Holy Spirit in acts, you can get into a lot of 225 00:11:06,150 --> 00:11:08,969 really fun theological conversations that we don't have time for. 226 00:11:09,060 --> 00:11:10,949 Maybe we could do a podcast episode on that or something. 227 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:17,819 But, um, when we're talking about the Holy Spirit in acts right, what does 228 00:11:17,819 --> 00:11:18,959 it mean to be full of the Holy Spirit? 229 00:11:18,959 --> 00:11:20,040 There's the, the apostles, right? 230 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:21,750 They have a special gifting of the Holy Spirit. 231 00:11:21,959 --> 00:11:25,469 But in the rest of the New Testament, we see that Christians are also 232 00:11:25,469 --> 00:11:27,660 supposed to be filled with the spirit. 233 00:11:29,969 --> 00:11:35,009 I'll show you what that means, and I think it's actually connected to God's word. 234 00:11:36,060 --> 00:11:37,170 Those two things are tied together. 235 00:11:37,170 --> 00:11:38,249 Look at these two verses for me. 236 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:38,550 Okay. 237 00:11:38,819 --> 00:11:41,280 Colossians three 16 and Ephesians five 18. 238 00:11:41,310 --> 00:11:43,560 Okay, so we have two separate commands here. 239 00:11:43,859 --> 00:11:46,349 One of them, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. 240 00:11:46,439 --> 00:11:48,689 The other one be filled with the spirit, right? 241 00:11:48,869 --> 00:11:50,699 Two different commands, but look at the effects. 242 00:11:51,569 --> 00:11:52,349 They're almost identical. 243 00:11:53,459 --> 00:11:55,439 We've got teaching and watching one another. 244 00:11:55,439 --> 00:11:58,380 All wisdom, singing praises, hymn spiritual songs, right? 245 00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:00,030 Addressing one another. 246 00:12:00,030 --> 00:12:03,449 Psalms, hyn spiritual songs, singing, making Me your Lord in your heart 247 00:12:03,660 --> 00:12:04,920 with thankfulness in your hearts. 248 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:06,780 You see, there's the similarities here, right? 249 00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:09,420 It's almost like these are the same thing. 250 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:15,270 It's almost like God's word and God's spirit are tied together. 251 00:12:15,270 --> 00:12:18,510 It's almost like God's spirit works through God's word to 252 00:12:18,510 --> 00:12:19,390 make all these things happen. 253 00:12:19,665 --> 00:12:19,755 Right. 254 00:12:20,594 --> 00:12:23,145 So if you wanna be someone who's filled with God's spirit, right? 255 00:12:23,145 --> 00:12:26,895 If you wanna be living out that Galatians five command, walk by the spirit and you 256 00:12:26,895 --> 00:12:28,905 will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 257 00:12:29,444 --> 00:12:31,155 You can't do it without God's word. 258 00:12:31,574 --> 00:12:33,765 That's why we care so much about reading the Bible at our church, right? 259 00:12:33,885 --> 00:12:34,875 That's why we do our dbr. 260 00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:36,795 That's why we have that daily Bible reading podcast. 261 00:12:36,795 --> 00:12:41,295 That's why we want you to, to be taking in all these sermons, is because 262 00:12:41,415 --> 00:12:44,175 the way for you to have Christ-like character that will cause you to 263 00:12:44,175 --> 00:12:47,084 be courageous for the gospel is. 264 00:12:49,035 --> 00:12:53,145 Being full of the spirit, which is accompanied by God's word dwelling in you. 265 00:12:53,324 --> 00:12:53,625 Right? 266 00:12:54,285 --> 00:12:56,805 And something about this verse that's really interesting, it's not 267 00:12:56,805 --> 00:12:58,334 enough for you to be in God's word. 268 00:12:58,995 --> 00:13:00,255 You need God's word in. 269 00:13:00,255 --> 00:13:03,074 You see the difference there, right? 270 00:13:03,074 --> 00:13:05,834 A lot of our kids in our kids' ministry are in God's word. 271 00:13:05,925 --> 00:13:09,645 They memorize the verses, they hear the teaching, but God's 272 00:13:09,645 --> 00:13:11,954 word's not in them yet, right? 273 00:13:12,765 --> 00:13:15,224 It hasn't affected their hearts. 274 00:13:19,170 --> 00:13:22,350 So when we talk about doing Bible reading plans and hearing sermons, right? 275 00:13:22,620 --> 00:13:27,690 Maybe you're in God's word every day, but my challenge to you is to make sure that 276 00:13:27,690 --> 00:13:30,150 God's word gets in you every day, right? 277 00:13:30,150 --> 00:13:33,900 Don't get up from your Bible reading until God's word is in you, right? 278 00:13:34,350 --> 00:13:37,050 Until you, you're full of affection for God. 279 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,800 You have clear steps of here's what I want to do today with 280 00:13:40,980 --> 00:13:44,340 this, that's gonna build gospel. 281 00:13:44,834 --> 00:13:45,374 Courage. 282 00:13:45,854 --> 00:13:45,974 Right. 283 00:13:45,974 --> 00:13:46,785 And we see that in Steven. 284 00:13:46,785 --> 00:13:48,435 Steven definitely had God's word in him. 285 00:13:48,584 --> 00:13:53,114 You notice he summarizes the whole Old Testament in his speech in chapter seven. 286 00:13:53,384 --> 00:13:58,694 He basically walks through the entire Old Testament, very excitedly, 287 00:13:58,694 --> 00:14:02,744 very passionately, with a lot of animation off the top of his head. 288 00:14:02,984 --> 00:14:03,374 Right? 289 00:14:03,675 --> 00:14:05,354 Because God's word was in him. 290 00:14:05,474 --> 00:14:07,394 Which is why we can know that Oh yeah. 291 00:14:07,425 --> 00:14:08,415 He's full of the spirit. 292 00:14:08,474 --> 00:14:09,915 He's also full of God's word. 293 00:14:12,150 --> 00:14:13,920 It's not just an intellectual pursuit, right? 294 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:14,880 There's passion behind it. 295 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,910 You see that in the way that Steven talks. 296 00:14:18,780 --> 00:14:21,930 But a holy life also includes love for others. 297 00:14:22,740 --> 00:14:24,000 Look at chapter seven. 298 00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:25,710 We're gonna be looking at verse two here. 299 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:27,960 Look at chapter seven, verse two. 300 00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:34,680 And Steven said, brothers and fathers hear me. 301 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,400 See the way he addresses the, the Jews here, brothers and fathers. 302 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:39,930 He's compassionate. 303 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:41,730 He's respectful. 304 00:14:42,180 --> 00:14:43,470 He's not looking down on them. 305 00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:45,240 He's not like, oh, you guys are so dumb. 306 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:45,960 How could you miss that? 307 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:46,890 Jesus was the Messiah. 308 00:14:47,100 --> 00:14:50,069 Isn't it so obvious from the scriptures, he's respectful. 309 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:55,650 He wants to address them in a way that doesn't shame them 310 00:14:55,710 --> 00:14:56,850 because they're beneath him. 311 00:14:56,939 --> 00:14:57,720 He cares about them. 312 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,470 And if you keep reading in the chapter, you see that in verse, 313 00:15:01,530 --> 00:15:05,400 even at the very end in verse 60, when he's about to die, right? 314 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:06,060 He says. 315 00:15:07,875 --> 00:15:10,305 Lord do not hold this sin against them. 316 00:15:11,055 --> 00:15:11,235 Right? 317 00:15:11,235 --> 00:15:12,435 They're stoning him. 318 00:15:12,824 --> 00:15:17,685 They're killing him in a really brutal way, and he's not out to get them back. 319 00:15:18,255 --> 00:15:22,425 He's not, you know, he's, he's not calling down fire from heaven on them, right? 320 00:15:22,785 --> 00:15:24,885 He's, he's saying, God, forgive them. 321 00:15:25,635 --> 00:15:25,875 Right? 322 00:15:25,875 --> 00:15:27,405 I want them to know you. 323 00:15:27,405 --> 00:15:30,405 I want them to, to trust Jesus to take away their sin. 324 00:15:31,665 --> 00:15:33,735 He's not trying to be right. 325 00:15:34,349 --> 00:15:37,829 He's trying to win the, the person, as we like to say, he's, he's trying to win 326 00:15:37,829 --> 00:15:39,839 the person, not win the argument, right? 327 00:15:40,469 --> 00:15:43,650 So his compassion for others is part of his holy life, right? 328 00:15:43,650 --> 00:15:44,609 We don't wanna be arrogant. 329 00:15:44,609 --> 00:15:47,219 We wanna be courageous, right? 330 00:15:47,219 --> 00:15:50,189 Are you courageously prideful, right? 331 00:15:50,189 --> 00:15:51,000 That's arrogant, right? 332 00:15:51,030 --> 00:15:52,680 Holier than thou moralistic. 333 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,920 Are you just, or are you actually courageously looking for opportunities 334 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,839 to talk about the good news of Jesus because you love people, right? 335 00:16:00,839 --> 00:16:02,550 Courage means running. 336 00:16:03,254 --> 00:16:04,694 Towards people to help them. 337 00:16:05,564 --> 00:16:05,774 Right? 338 00:16:05,774 --> 00:16:11,685 Not running towards people and writing them off and looking down on them. 339 00:16:14,744 --> 00:16:14,894 Right. 340 00:16:14,894 --> 00:16:18,584 We wanna be holy, not just Orthodox, we want to be 341 00:16:18,584 --> 00:16:20,234 compassionate and not just correct. 342 00:16:20,654 --> 00:16:20,774 Right? 343 00:16:20,774 --> 00:16:23,685 That's all part of gospel courage. 344 00:16:25,279 --> 00:16:30,764 But if a holy life is the fertile soil for gospel courage, then what's the. 345 00:16:31,170 --> 00:16:32,009 The seed, right? 346 00:16:32,009 --> 00:16:32,759 That produces it. 347 00:16:32,759 --> 00:16:36,899 If you wanna keep that plant analogy, well, gospel courage comes from faith. 348 00:16:37,079 --> 00:16:39,629 Faith is what produces courage. 349 00:16:41,609 --> 00:16:46,259 Faith is the spark that ignites gospel courage, right? 350 00:16:46,439 --> 00:16:49,259 Look here at the end of chapter seven, right? 351 00:16:49,259 --> 00:16:53,550 Stephen's view of Jesus gives him courage and confidence 352 00:16:53,550 --> 00:16:55,139 to, to deliver this message. 353 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,420 Faith is the way you see Jesus, the way that you see 354 00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:01,860 God, the way you perceive him. 355 00:17:02,310 --> 00:17:04,290 That's what faith is, right? 356 00:17:04,770 --> 00:17:08,280 Trusting God, not just knowing facts about God, right? 357 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,780 Steven's view of Jesus gives him the courage and the confidence that 358 00:17:12,780 --> 00:17:14,339 he needs to do what he needs to do. 359 00:17:14,550 --> 00:17:15,960 What does he see about Jesus? 360 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,859 Well, he what seems to be visually sees Jesus in verse 361 00:17:19,859 --> 00:17:21,125 55 at the end of chapter seven. 362 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:27,329 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, once again, gazed into heaven and saw 363 00:17:27,329 --> 00:17:33,539 the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and Stephen's 364 00:17:33,539 --> 00:17:37,350 faith caused him to see Jesus in a way that gave him courage, right? 365 00:17:37,379 --> 00:17:42,779 He's literally probably seeing Jesus, but we figuratively see Jesus by faith, right? 366 00:17:42,779 --> 00:17:44,039 We talk about your view of God. 367 00:17:44,939 --> 00:17:48,060 Who do you think God is to you moment by moment. 368 00:17:48,750 --> 00:17:52,020 Your view of Jesus is gonna make or break your gospel courage. 369 00:17:52,020 --> 00:17:57,090 So our second point is ignite gospel courage with your view of Jesus. 370 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,750 In biblical counseling, we call this our functional view of God. 371 00:18:04,590 --> 00:18:09,360 How you actually see God moment by moment, right? 372 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,730 You have your intellectual, like maybe you're you. 373 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:13,620 You can pass this theology test, right? 374 00:18:13,649 --> 00:18:14,850 Oh yeah, God is omnisci. 375 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:16,800 God is omnipresent, right? 376 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,260 Maybe you're a leader in adventure club and so you just learned 377 00:18:19,260 --> 00:18:20,219 about all this stuff, right? 378 00:18:20,429 --> 00:18:22,260 God is faithful. 379 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:23,489 God is love, right? 380 00:18:23,489 --> 00:18:26,790 You, you know these things about God, but moment by moment is God 381 00:18:26,790 --> 00:18:32,429 actually, those things to you, that's your functional view of God, right? 382 00:18:32,459 --> 00:18:33,270 You can illustrate it. 383 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:36,060 Like maybe you're in a battle with lust, right? 384 00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:42,840 You're, you're tempted to act on your impure desires, you're. 385 00:18:44,370 --> 00:18:49,050 Intellectual view of God might say, yeah, I believe that God is everywhere. 386 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:50,219 I believe that God sees me. 387 00:18:50,459 --> 00:18:51,600 I believe that God loves me. 388 00:18:52,649 --> 00:18:53,909 I believe that God is a good judge. 389 00:18:53,909 --> 00:18:54,989 I believe that God hates sin. 390 00:18:55,290 --> 00:19:00,090 But functionally, your view of God is gonna determine how you respond 391 00:19:00,090 --> 00:19:02,340 to that temp temptation, right? 392 00:19:02,435 --> 00:19:06,389 If functionally, you really believe that God is everywhere and God sees everything. 393 00:19:07,845 --> 00:19:10,034 That would change your response to that temptation, right? 394 00:19:10,034 --> 00:19:12,735 Like Joseph, we just read this in our daily Bible ring not too long ago. 395 00:19:12,945 --> 00:19:15,284 Joseph says, how could I commit this sin against God? 396 00:19:15,705 --> 00:19:17,235 He knows, man, God sees this. 397 00:19:17,355 --> 00:19:18,435 God knows about this. 398 00:19:18,585 --> 00:19:19,335 God cares. 399 00:19:19,725 --> 00:19:23,625 And so his functional view of God is that God is present, that God is active and 400 00:19:23,625 --> 00:19:25,485 that God is aware of what's happening. 401 00:19:27,254 --> 00:19:33,495 So your faith is really what you do to get your functional view of God 402 00:19:33,495 --> 00:19:35,385 to match what he says about himself. 403 00:19:35,969 --> 00:19:39,659 Right, because I think most of us know intellectually the right things about 404 00:19:39,659 --> 00:19:43,229 God, but faith is moment by moment. 405 00:19:43,350 --> 00:19:46,620 When temptation comes or when that opportunity to share the gospel comes, 406 00:19:46,830 --> 00:19:51,149 you need to get your intellectual view of God to match your, your boots on 407 00:19:51,149 --> 00:19:52,769 the ground, functional view of God. 408 00:19:53,009 --> 00:19:54,120 And that's what faith does. 409 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,610 You, you talk to yourself, you're like, man, I don't wanna share 410 00:19:56,610 --> 00:19:57,479 the gospel with that person. 411 00:19:57,570 --> 00:19:58,225 And you start, you. 412 00:19:58,229 --> 00:20:00,449 You start, if you start listening to yourself rather than talking 413 00:20:00,449 --> 00:20:02,550 to yourself, what happens is, oh man, this happens to me. 414 00:20:02,790 --> 00:20:03,870 That guy's got big hands. 415 00:20:04,575 --> 00:20:05,775 He looks really scary. 416 00:20:06,135 --> 00:20:08,115 He might try to kill me, right? 417 00:20:08,295 --> 00:20:09,045 Oh, that guy. 418 00:20:09,105 --> 00:20:10,125 Ah, I don't know. 419 00:20:10,245 --> 00:20:13,245 He looks, he looks like he probably wouldn't wanna hear 420 00:20:13,245 --> 00:20:14,055 about the gospel, right? 421 00:20:14,055 --> 00:20:17,595 He probably just would reject me, or, oh, he looks like he's from 422 00:20:17,595 --> 00:20:21,195 a different country, so maybe he wouldn't even care about Jesus. 423 00:20:21,825 --> 00:20:24,915 So, or, uh, he probably knows so much more about his own religion. 424 00:20:24,915 --> 00:20:27,585 He would just totally steamroll me in a debate. 425 00:20:27,945 --> 00:20:31,455 And we talk ourselves out of sharing the gospel, but if you. 426 00:20:32,175 --> 00:20:35,145 Talk to yourself by faith, and you take God's word and, and 427 00:20:35,145 --> 00:20:36,105 you apply it into your heart. 428 00:20:36,105 --> 00:20:36,765 You say, you know what? 429 00:20:36,825 --> 00:20:40,725 Romans one 16 says that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. 430 00:20:41,295 --> 00:20:42,165 Do I believe that? 431 00:20:42,225 --> 00:20:44,505 Do I really believe that the gospel is more powerful than, 432 00:20:44,625 --> 00:20:46,155 than this smart guy's intellect? 433 00:20:46,695 --> 00:20:51,015 Or do I really believe that Jesus is, is active and reigning and ruling and 434 00:20:51,045 --> 00:20:56,475 it's okay if this guy gets mad at me for sharing the gospel, or man, I don't wanna 435 00:20:56,475 --> 00:20:59,535 share the gospel with my relative because things are gonna be really awkward next 436 00:20:59,535 --> 00:21:01,185 time around we that we hang out with them. 437 00:21:02,895 --> 00:21:05,804 Do I really believe that Jesus says Whoever loves father or 438 00:21:05,804 --> 00:21:08,564 mother or brother or sister more than me is not worthy of me. 439 00:21:08,594 --> 00:21:10,905 Do I take that verse and apply it to my heart? 440 00:21:12,014 --> 00:21:13,754 That's what your functional view of God is, right? 441 00:21:13,754 --> 00:21:14,774 And that's how you get courage. 442 00:21:15,195 --> 00:21:16,185 You trust God. 443 00:21:16,274 --> 00:21:17,175 You say, God, you know what? 444 00:21:17,175 --> 00:21:18,135 I, I trust you. 445 00:21:18,915 --> 00:21:23,054 I trust your word, and I'm gonna bring it to bear on my situation. 446 00:21:23,985 --> 00:21:24,764 And that's how you get courage. 447 00:21:24,764 --> 00:21:26,685 And we see Steven doing that here. 448 00:21:28,064 --> 00:21:28,364 Right. 449 00:21:28,395 --> 00:21:33,735 Verses 55 and 56, what does he specifically see about Jesus? 450 00:21:33,915 --> 00:21:36,044 Well, here's what he sees, right? 451 00:21:36,044 --> 00:21:39,014 He sees, I'll put it on the screen for you. 452 00:21:39,735 --> 00:21:44,445 He gazed into heaven and he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at 453 00:21:44,445 --> 00:21:47,385 the right hand of God and behold, all right, and he says it out loud. 454 00:21:47,385 --> 00:21:49,455 He says what He sees, I see the heavens open. 455 00:21:49,574 --> 00:21:51,254 The son of man standing at the right hand of God. 456 00:21:51,254 --> 00:21:52,844 Look what he sees about Jesus. 457 00:21:52,905 --> 00:21:55,125 He sees that Jesus is victorious. 458 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,479 He's at the right hand of God, right? 459 00:21:57,479 --> 00:22:00,509 We, that happens twice at the right hand of God. 460 00:22:00,509 --> 00:22:02,280 That means that Jesus is right. 461 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:02,999 He defeated death. 462 00:22:02,999 --> 00:22:08,219 He was as he ascended to the father's hand, he is reigning with power, even 463 00:22:08,219 --> 00:22:11,850 though it might not look like it because Steven's about to die, but Steven says, 464 00:22:11,879 --> 00:22:13,800 I know that that Jesus is is winning. 465 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:18,590 I know that I'm on the winning team even though I'm getting killed for it. 466 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,190 He sees that Jesus is victorious, right? 467 00:22:23,190 --> 00:22:26,760 Do, do you encounter evangelistic opposition knowing that Jesus 468 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,320 is victorious, that he's alive, that he's reigning, that he 469 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:32,909 is powerful, that he wins? 470 00:22:33,419 --> 00:22:35,700 Or do you watch the news like Jesus is winning? 471 00:22:36,540 --> 00:22:39,600 Do you watch the news like Jesus is in control or do you watch the news 472 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:44,159 like, man, I, I, I really hate that and I need to do something about it. 473 00:22:44,550 --> 00:22:46,379 And those people just need to get out of our state. 474 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:50,189 Or do you watch the news like, man, God is in control. 475 00:22:50,219 --> 00:22:54,149 Jesus is at God's right hand, and I trust him, and we need to reach 476 00:22:54,149 --> 00:22:55,229 those people with the gospel. 477 00:22:59,519 --> 00:23:03,840 Something else that Steven sees about Jesus is he sees that 478 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:05,459 Jesus is active, he's standing. 479 00:23:05,459 --> 00:23:07,889 You notice that a lot of times when you think of Jesus at God's 480 00:23:07,889 --> 00:23:12,629 right hand, you see this in Ephesians one, he's sitting, right? 481 00:23:12,689 --> 00:23:14,189 Or in Hebrews, Jesus sat down. 482 00:23:14,790 --> 00:23:16,170 Because he's done, his work is finished. 483 00:23:16,590 --> 00:23:17,430 Why is Jesus standing? 484 00:23:18,210 --> 00:23:19,020 Is Stephen hallucinating? 485 00:23:19,020 --> 00:23:19,290 Like, what? 486 00:23:19,290 --> 00:23:20,370 What's he seeing about Jesus? 487 00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:23,910 I think what, what we're trying to see here is that Jesus is active. 488 00:23:24,510 --> 00:23:29,550 He's up, he's, he's ready to receive Stephen into heaven. 489 00:23:29,670 --> 00:23:31,650 He's active, ready to help. 490 00:23:31,710 --> 00:23:36,840 Stephen, do you evangelize, like Jesus is active, right? 491 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,970 When you share the gospel, is it like, oh, well I hope this 492 00:23:38,970 --> 00:23:40,290 works, or is it like, no, no, no. 493 00:23:40,470 --> 00:23:42,600 The gospel is God's power. 494 00:23:42,975 --> 00:23:47,085 The Holy Spirit is real and he is working to save this person. 495 00:23:47,595 --> 00:23:50,355 God says that he desires all people to reach repentance, right? 496 00:23:50,445 --> 00:23:51,075 One Timothy two. 497 00:23:51,705 --> 00:23:54,885 Am I gonna pray like it or am I just gonna be like, oh, well maybe 498 00:23:59,264 --> 00:24:02,115 Jesus is victorious and active. 499 00:24:02,325 --> 00:24:05,115 Those are the two things that Steven sees about Jesus, and those are the two things 500 00:24:05,115 --> 00:24:08,025 that can give us gospel courage, right? 501 00:24:08,025 --> 00:24:10,305 Steven's a regular guy, Steven. 502 00:24:10,949 --> 00:24:12,689 He's not Pastor Steven, right? 503 00:24:12,689 --> 00:24:18,720 Steven is not seminary grad Steven, Steven is not, you know, super smart theologian. 504 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,820 Steven Steven's a regular guy who studied God's word. 505 00:24:24,750 --> 00:24:25,980 He didn't even have a Bible, right? 506 00:24:26,010 --> 00:24:27,030 Didn't have Bibles back then. 507 00:24:27,750 --> 00:24:28,649 He didn't have a New Testament. 508 00:24:29,610 --> 00:24:33,330 He couldn't just, you know, pull up his phone out of his pocket 509 00:24:33,330 --> 00:24:34,470 and and memorize scripture. 510 00:24:36,149 --> 00:24:38,355 He's a regular guy who studied God's word, trusted God. 511 00:24:40,020 --> 00:24:44,400 Applied it to his heart so that he really believed these things and lived like it. 512 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:51,090 So when you see Jesus like Steven as active and victorious, it'll not just 513 00:24:51,090 --> 00:24:56,040 give you courage, it'll also change your concerns and what you're concerned about 514 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,340 often shapes your fears and your prior. 515 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,340 And that also keeps courage alive. 516 00:25:02,340 --> 00:25:05,370 So we talked about grounding the foundation for courage. 517 00:25:05,370 --> 00:25:07,290 We talked about igniting the spark for courage. 518 00:25:07,439 --> 00:25:10,439 Well, here, here's how you sustain gospel courage. 519 00:25:10,439 --> 00:25:12,629 It's with God focused concern. 520 00:25:14,850 --> 00:25:16,770 You keep your courage going, right? 521 00:25:16,770 --> 00:25:21,659 You, you keep the fire of your courage warm with your 522 00:25:21,659 --> 00:25:23,129 concerns, with your priorities. 523 00:25:24,540 --> 00:25:27,360 What you focus on will shape your fears. 524 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:27,840 It'll shape your. 525 00:25:29,115 --> 00:25:30,764 Goals, it'll shape your motives. 526 00:25:34,335 --> 00:25:37,485 So evangelistic courage is sustained by prioritizing 527 00:25:37,575 --> 00:25:39,915 God's glory and God's mission. 528 00:25:40,125 --> 00:25:40,305 Right? 529 00:25:40,305 --> 00:25:43,905 Your, your worries and your priorities will either strengthen 530 00:25:44,415 --> 00:25:46,335 your resolve or weaken it. 531 00:25:47,385 --> 00:25:51,105 What you're focused on, what you're, what you're looking for is either gonna 532 00:25:51,195 --> 00:25:54,715 strengthen your courage, it's gonna feed it, or it's gonna take it away. 533 00:25:56,235 --> 00:26:01,965 So Steven is, is very focused on God and on his mission. 534 00:26:02,205 --> 00:26:02,564 Right? 535 00:26:02,685 --> 00:26:06,405 When Steven is getting stoned, what's he looking at? 536 00:26:07,395 --> 00:26:08,715 He's not looking at the rocks. 537 00:26:09,074 --> 00:26:10,004 He's looking at Jesus. 538 00:26:10,754 --> 00:26:11,054 Right? 539 00:26:12,014 --> 00:26:16,605 When Steven is brought before these people at this trial, his 540 00:26:16,605 --> 00:26:19,875 goal isn't to win arguments. 541 00:26:19,935 --> 00:26:20,925 His goal isn't to. 542 00:26:21,870 --> 00:26:22,770 Save his life. 543 00:26:22,860 --> 00:26:24,090 His goal is to share the gospel. 544 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,139 He's saying the reason I'm here on trial with this platform, with 545 00:26:28,139 --> 00:26:31,800 figuratively, with this microphone, this is a great time to share the gospel. 546 00:26:32,550 --> 00:26:33,540 That's what Steven thinks. 547 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:34,620 When Steven is there. 548 00:26:34,740 --> 00:26:35,879 He's like, man, I'm on trial. 549 00:26:35,879 --> 00:26:37,139 All these people are here to listen to me. 550 00:26:37,409 --> 00:26:38,129 What should I do? 551 00:26:38,970 --> 00:26:41,639 Should I defend myself or should I share the gospel? 552 00:26:42,929 --> 00:26:44,909 He's like, well, it'd be better if I shared the gospel. 553 00:26:45,179 --> 00:26:47,189 'cause if I die, we're gonna be okay. 554 00:26:47,834 --> 00:26:50,054 Something else that you might notice about Steven is, Steven's 555 00:26:50,054 --> 00:26:51,314 job is to take care of the widows. 556 00:26:51,465 --> 00:26:53,054 If Steven dies, can he do that anymore? 557 00:26:53,834 --> 00:26:54,195 No. 558 00:26:54,975 --> 00:26:57,014 Is Steven worried about that? 559 00:26:57,225 --> 00:26:57,794 No. 560 00:26:58,334 --> 00:26:58,844 Steven knows. 561 00:26:58,844 --> 00:26:59,264 You know what? 562 00:26:59,264 --> 00:27:01,185 Jesus is gonna take care of the widows, right? 563 00:27:01,245 --> 00:27:06,225 Jesus is gonna raise up other godly men to serve in the church, but right now I 564 00:27:06,225 --> 00:27:11,264 have this opportunity to share the gospel and that's what I'm gonna do, right? 565 00:27:11,264 --> 00:27:14,054 He, his concern is rightly ordered. 566 00:27:14,535 --> 00:27:16,305 Because it would've been easy for Steven to be like, you know what? 567 00:27:16,455 --> 00:27:17,805 I'm in charge of taking care of the widows. 568 00:27:17,805 --> 00:27:18,555 This is a big deal. 569 00:27:18,555 --> 00:27:20,415 This could have caused a big division in the church. 570 00:27:20,565 --> 00:27:25,545 Maybe I should, I should try to just get off clean and, and go back to the church. 571 00:27:25,545 --> 00:27:28,005 Take care of the widows and, and we'll figure this out from here. 572 00:27:28,905 --> 00:27:30,965 He could have, right, and he could have justified it in his head. 573 00:27:30,965 --> 00:27:31,140 Right. 574 00:27:31,905 --> 00:27:32,865 I could have done that. 575 00:27:33,015 --> 00:27:34,215 I could see myself doing that. 576 00:27:34,215 --> 00:27:38,325 Well, I'm not gonna share the gospel with this person because then they might 577 00:27:38,325 --> 00:27:41,145 hate church, and then they might not be able to share the gospel with them later. 578 00:27:41,325 --> 00:27:45,465 Or we just go down the line and we justify all these reasons not to share the gospel. 579 00:27:46,665 --> 00:27:49,575 Obviously there's, there's a place for wisdom in sharing the gospel. 580 00:27:49,575 --> 00:27:53,145 There's a place for looking for good opportunities and, and, and all that. 581 00:27:53,145 --> 00:27:56,835 But what I'm gonna say is don't use wisdom as a justification 582 00:27:56,835 --> 00:27:58,245 to not share the gospel, right. 583 00:27:58,245 --> 00:27:59,475 To be scared of sharing the gospel. 584 00:28:03,315 --> 00:28:07,095 If you have worldly priorities, you'll always find a reason not to evangelize. 585 00:28:07,905 --> 00:28:10,305 You'll always find a reason not to evangelize if your priorities 586 00:28:10,305 --> 00:28:12,195 are, are outta whack, right? 587 00:28:12,195 --> 00:28:14,835 Oh, well, the, you know, I, I can't share the gospel with this parent 588 00:28:14,835 --> 00:28:18,254 because, you know, they, they're, uh, on the team, their, their son has a 589 00:28:18,254 --> 00:28:21,105 lot of influence and they, they talk to the coach, and maybe not you can, 590 00:28:21,345 --> 00:28:22,575 you can do all sorts of stuff, right? 591 00:28:22,575 --> 00:28:26,115 Or, oh, if I share the gospel with this coworker, then you know, then it's gonna 592 00:28:26,115 --> 00:28:27,825 affect my promotion and all this stuff. 593 00:28:29,535 --> 00:28:29,685 Right. 594 00:28:29,685 --> 00:28:33,825 Your priorities are going to change your courage. 595 00:28:35,235 --> 00:28:37,965 If you have worldly priorities, you'll always be worried about 596 00:28:37,965 --> 00:28:41,475 your reputation, your convenience, essentially your kingdom, right? 597 00:28:44,385 --> 00:28:49,605 I felt this a lot when I, when I first moved in to a new apartment about a year 598 00:28:49,605 --> 00:28:55,395 ago, I was initially, I was like, oh man, we get to meet all our new neighbors and 599 00:28:55,395 --> 00:28:56,565 invite them to church and all this stuff. 600 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,600 And then I was so concerned about getting settled in the apartment. 601 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:01,530 I never did it. 602 00:29:02,189 --> 00:29:03,570 I was like, oh, well, I'll do it later. 603 00:29:03,570 --> 00:29:06,899 Once I, you know, once we, once we move the rest of the stuff in, or, 604 00:29:06,899 --> 00:29:10,320 oh, once we can actually invite people over and we get settled, then I'll, 605 00:29:10,530 --> 00:29:12,929 then I'll invite them, or, well, I'll just, you know, it's close enough to 606 00:29:12,929 --> 00:29:14,040 Easter, I'll just wait until Easter. 607 00:29:14,850 --> 00:29:15,510 And I never did it. 608 00:29:15,540 --> 00:29:19,980 I never invited my neighbors to church in my apartment complex because I always 609 00:29:19,980 --> 00:29:21,449 was waiting for a better time to do it. 610 00:29:22,770 --> 00:29:25,740 But really what I was doing is I was justifying my fear of not. 611 00:29:25,845 --> 00:29:27,225 Of, of inviting them. 612 00:29:27,285 --> 00:29:27,465 Right? 613 00:29:27,465 --> 00:29:30,585 I was, I was afraid to go over there and say, Hey, my name's Lewis just moved in. 614 00:29:30,675 --> 00:29:32,565 We'd love to meet you guys love to have you over dinner. 615 00:29:32,685 --> 00:29:34,695 By the way, we go to Church Compass, Bible Church. 616 00:29:34,695 --> 00:29:36,705 If you're interested, we'd love to, to go with you. 617 00:29:37,245 --> 00:29:37,425 Right? 618 00:29:37,425 --> 00:29:38,025 I never did that. 619 00:29:38,355 --> 00:29:39,495 That would take 30 seconds. 620 00:29:39,495 --> 00:29:39,855 Right. 621 00:29:40,455 --> 00:29:40,965 Never did that. 622 00:29:40,995 --> 00:29:43,245 'cause I always came with a better reason to wait. 623 00:29:45,015 --> 00:29:46,395 That's me not being courageous. 624 00:29:46,635 --> 00:29:46,935 Right. 625 00:29:46,995 --> 00:29:50,505 That's me using wisdom to justify my fear. 626 00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:52,800 Right. 627 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,660 God focused priorities will always find reasons to evangelize, right? 628 00:29:57,660 --> 00:30:00,389 The, the question should not be, when should I evangelize? 629 00:30:00,389 --> 00:30:04,170 The question should be, okay, well, if there's ever Right, you should not be 630 00:30:04,170 --> 00:30:07,770 looking for exceptions as the rule, right? 631 00:30:07,770 --> 00:30:09,090 The, the, the, it shouldn't be. 632 00:30:09,090 --> 00:30:11,700 Well, if I find a good opportunity, then I'll share the gospel. 633 00:30:11,910 --> 00:30:12,210 Right? 634 00:30:12,270 --> 00:30:16,110 The default should be share the gospel and then the exception should 635 00:30:16,110 --> 00:30:16,940 be, okay, well this time I won't. 636 00:30:17,715 --> 00:30:18,675 But most of the time I will. 637 00:30:18,915 --> 00:30:19,095 Right? 638 00:30:19,095 --> 00:30:21,915 That's, that's what God focused priorities do. 639 00:30:22,965 --> 00:30:25,905 So I want you to think about what matters in a thousand years. 640 00:30:26,385 --> 00:30:29,085 Does it matter that I waited for a great time to invite my neighbor 641 00:30:29,085 --> 00:30:29,955 to church in a thousand years? 642 00:30:30,915 --> 00:30:31,425 Not really. 643 00:30:31,514 --> 00:30:33,645 It mattered more that I would just share the gospel with them. 644 00:30:34,004 --> 00:30:34,305 Right. 645 00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:37,905 What conversations and topics do you bring up? 646 00:30:37,905 --> 00:30:40,334 I was convicted about this this morning reading the DVR. 647 00:30:40,514 --> 00:30:45,465 I noticed that Joseph in Genesis 41, he's always bringing up God. 648 00:30:45,465 --> 00:30:46,425 When they talk about his dreams. 649 00:30:46,455 --> 00:30:48,524 He's like, well, you know, God gives the interpretations of his dreams 650 00:30:48,554 --> 00:30:50,475 just so you know, but I'll, I'll help. 651 00:30:51,044 --> 00:30:54,675 He like always fronts it with God does this, and I think about when someone 652 00:30:54,675 --> 00:30:58,395 asks me about my weekend, I'm never like if they're, if they're not a 653 00:30:58,395 --> 00:31:02,294 believer, I'm not like, the sermon was so good we talked about this, but if I'm 654 00:31:02,294 --> 00:31:03,584 talking to a believer, I would say that. 655 00:31:04,635 --> 00:31:06,075 But I changed it when I talked to an unbeliever. 656 00:31:06,075 --> 00:31:07,815 'cause I'm scared, right? 657 00:31:07,815 --> 00:31:09,525 And that was super convicting for me this morning. 658 00:31:11,805 --> 00:31:14,355 Are you praying for open doors to share the gospel? 659 00:31:17,595 --> 00:31:20,475 Your priorities are often reflected in your prayers, right? 660 00:31:21,255 --> 00:31:23,625 What you're worried about, what you're concerned about is gonna 661 00:31:23,625 --> 00:31:24,765 show up in what you pray about. 662 00:31:25,605 --> 00:31:29,505 And Colossians four, when, um, Paul's talking to the Colossians about what 663 00:31:29,505 --> 00:31:32,445 to pray for for him, he says, pray for open doors to share the gospel. 664 00:31:33,195 --> 00:31:35,115 And in Ephesians six, he prays for give. 665 00:31:35,145 --> 00:31:36,615 He asked them, give me courage. 666 00:31:36,825 --> 00:31:38,355 Pray that God would give me courage. 667 00:31:39,044 --> 00:31:43,034 That's what Paul wants people to pray for, right In your community group, prayer 668 00:31:43,034 --> 00:31:46,514 quest time, when was the last time you asked for courage to share the gospel? 669 00:31:46,965 --> 00:31:48,254 Right on your prayer list. 670 00:31:48,254 --> 00:31:48,915 If you keep one. 671 00:31:48,915 --> 00:31:53,175 Do you have a open door part on your I want open doors 672 00:31:53,175 --> 00:31:55,335 to share the gospel, right? 673 00:31:55,335 --> 00:31:57,915 I had a pastor who challenged me to do that. 674 00:31:57,915 --> 00:32:00,720 He said, every day you should be praying for open doors to share the gospel. 675 00:32:02,625 --> 00:32:05,715 Then for him that literally he prayed that and then Jehovahs Witness came 676 00:32:05,715 --> 00:32:07,245 to his door like 30 seconds later. 677 00:32:08,535 --> 00:32:09,015 There you go. 678 00:32:09,045 --> 00:32:09,345 Right. 679 00:32:12,165 --> 00:32:15,435 But also Steven is more concerned about sharing the gospel than 680 00:32:15,435 --> 00:32:17,805 he is about defending himself. 681 00:32:18,435 --> 00:32:21,225 I think this happens a lot as men is we wanna defend ourselves and that 682 00:32:21,225 --> 00:32:23,865 distracts from sharing the gospel, right? 683 00:32:23,865 --> 00:32:29,145 We, we get self-focused and that takes away from our evangelism. 684 00:32:30,149 --> 00:32:35,519 If you notice, evangelism is inherently selfless in so many ways. 685 00:32:37,169 --> 00:32:40,949 You're loving someone in a way that they usually don't want to be loved, right? 686 00:32:41,909 --> 00:32:42,749 That's selfless. 687 00:32:43,229 --> 00:32:48,179 Also, you're telling them about Jesus, which should distract from you, right? 688 00:32:48,179 --> 00:32:50,969 Evangelism is one of the most selfless things you can do because the person 689 00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:54,330 you're, you're sharing the gospel with probably won't like it and 690 00:32:54,779 --> 00:32:55,860 you're not talking about yourself. 691 00:32:57,659 --> 00:32:58,110 So. 692 00:32:59,129 --> 00:33:03,659 If you're self-focused, you're always going to not want 693 00:33:03,659 --> 00:33:04,950 to share the gospel, right? 694 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:07,800 It's gonna grate against your selfishness to share the gospel, 695 00:33:09,899 --> 00:33:14,310 but your focus can help you in that regard, right? 696 00:33:14,310 --> 00:33:17,730 You'll be less afraid if you're focused on God, right? 697 00:33:17,730 --> 00:33:23,010 Steven, his look at his gaze, he's gazed into heaven. 698 00:33:23,070 --> 00:33:25,679 He, that's where he is looking, right? 699 00:33:25,679 --> 00:33:27,595 When, think of like when Peter's walking on the water. 700 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,050 He's looking at Jesus, he's doing great. 701 00:33:31,260 --> 00:33:33,030 He looks at the water, he looks at the wind. 702 00:33:33,690 --> 00:33:34,560 Not so great, right? 703 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:35,190 He starts sinking. 704 00:33:36,300 --> 00:33:40,500 Or you think about Elisha right in Second King, six, whether you that story when, 705 00:33:40,770 --> 00:33:42,780 um, his servant is like, we're surrounded. 706 00:33:42,780 --> 00:33:43,440 What are we gonna do? 707 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,820 And elisha's like, open his eyes because I want him to see the way things really are. 708 00:33:47,940 --> 00:33:51,060 And he, his servant suddenly sees, oh, there's like a ton of angels here. 709 00:33:51,210 --> 00:33:51,660 We're good. 710 00:33:52,500 --> 00:33:52,860 Right? 711 00:33:53,550 --> 00:33:55,020 His eyes were in the wrong place. 712 00:33:55,230 --> 00:33:56,669 He wasn't seeing things the right way. 713 00:34:01,754 --> 00:34:05,265 When you see things the right way, it makes sense to share the gospel, right? 714 00:34:05,265 --> 00:34:07,155 When your priorities are rightly ordered, it makes sense. 715 00:34:07,184 --> 00:34:09,375 It's like, oh yeah, of course I'll share the gospel, right? 716 00:34:09,375 --> 00:34:13,665 I'm not gonna worry about the other things that could prevent 717 00:34:13,665 --> 00:34:14,625 me from sharing the gospel. 718 00:34:14,775 --> 00:34:18,614 I'm gonna worry about how I could share the gospel, and 719 00:34:18,614 --> 00:34:20,835 that builds courage, right? 720 00:34:21,074 --> 00:34:22,965 I thought of Jesus in Luke 2 52. 721 00:34:22,995 --> 00:34:24,554 I must be about my father's business. 722 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,889 That's like Jesus' mission statement, right from age 12. 723 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,320 I must be about my father's business. 724 00:34:31,980 --> 00:34:34,710 His priorities were God's will. 725 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:35,520 That's what I want. 726 00:34:36,389 --> 00:34:40,050 Not well, I'm gonna get grounded 'cause I disappeared and my 727 00:34:40,050 --> 00:34:40,860 parents were really scared. 728 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:42,120 Right? 729 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:43,230 Which that's a hilarious story. 730 00:34:43,230 --> 00:34:46,290 If you're like Mary and Joseph, they lost Jesus. 731 00:34:46,739 --> 00:34:49,350 Like you lost, like what do you do? 732 00:34:49,350 --> 00:34:51,719 Like if you're married, you're like, um, Hey God, you know 733 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:53,010 that Messiah you gave us. 734 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:53,770 Um. 735 00:34:54,735 --> 00:35:00,855 You have another one anywhere, like anyway, um, yeah. 736 00:35:00,884 --> 00:35:02,175 Matthew 6 33, right? 737 00:35:02,175 --> 00:35:05,654 We talked about this on, on the Dbr R podcast with when we went through Matthew 738 00:35:05,654 --> 00:35:11,625 six, that passage about anxiety, right, about fear is tied to your priorities. 739 00:35:12,195 --> 00:35:14,985 'cause where does it start with, where your treasure is there, 740 00:35:14,985 --> 00:35:17,175 your heart will be also it. 741 00:35:17,175 --> 00:35:20,505 The eye is the lamp of the body and you can only serve one master. 742 00:35:20,985 --> 00:35:23,295 Those are priority verses right. 743 00:35:23,655 --> 00:35:24,465 Your heart. 744 00:35:25,335 --> 00:35:26,745 That's where your priorities come from. 745 00:35:26,895 --> 00:35:28,425 Your treasure is what your priorities are. 746 00:35:28,485 --> 00:35:33,615 Your master is who your priorities are, and then therefore, don't be anxious. 747 00:35:35,175 --> 00:35:37,425 That's where fear comes from, misplaced priorities. 748 00:35:37,605 --> 00:35:39,555 He says, look, look at the lilies. 749 00:35:39,585 --> 00:35:41,700 Look at the at the birds, right? 750 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:43,965 Change your focus. 751 00:35:45,075 --> 00:35:47,565 Look at God, and that'll change your priorities because how 752 00:35:47,565 --> 00:35:48,405 does he end that passage? 753 00:35:49,065 --> 00:35:49,965 Matthew 6 33. 754 00:35:49,965 --> 00:35:52,155 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. 755 00:35:53,115 --> 00:35:54,405 All these things will be added to you, right? 756 00:35:54,405 --> 00:35:56,445 You don't need to worry about what you're gonna eat, you don't need about 757 00:35:56,445 --> 00:35:57,585 worry about what you're gonna wear. 758 00:35:58,065 --> 00:36:01,155 If you worry about God and you're concerned about what he wants you 759 00:36:01,155 --> 00:36:03,105 to do, he'll take care of you. 760 00:36:03,225 --> 00:36:06,705 He'll equip you to do the mission that he wants you to do, right? 761 00:36:06,705 --> 00:36:10,155 You think about it, if you, if you want your kid to do something, 762 00:36:10,845 --> 00:36:12,095 you enable them to do it. 763 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,560 You give them the resources they need to get it done or your employee, right? 764 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:19,020 If, imagine if your employee came to you and was like, well, you know, 765 00:36:19,020 --> 00:36:21,780 boss, I know you asked me to do this thing, but I didn't do it because 766 00:36:21,780 --> 00:36:23,160 I didn't have fill in the blank. 767 00:36:23,550 --> 00:36:24,750 You'd be like, why didn't you tell me? 768 00:36:24,750 --> 00:36:25,620 I want you to do it. 769 00:36:25,650 --> 00:36:26,730 I'll help you do it. 770 00:36:28,260 --> 00:36:29,880 That's that's how evangelism works. 771 00:36:30,300 --> 00:36:33,630 Like, God, I really need an opportunity to talk to this person about who you are. 772 00:36:34,650 --> 00:36:36,660 Ask for it, pray for it. 773 00:36:39,750 --> 00:36:44,640 So where will your concern and therefore your energy go? 774 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:48,330 Will your concern and your energy go toward worrying about yourself? 775 00:36:49,050 --> 00:36:51,930 Or will they go towards worrying about God? 776 00:36:52,620 --> 00:36:55,290 You only have so much energy to worry about stuff, right? 777 00:36:55,620 --> 00:36:58,530 Paul talks about how he's anxious for the churches, right? 778 00:36:58,530 --> 00:37:03,240 Paul's anxiety, his concern is towards God's will, right? 779 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:03,765 Where is yours going? 780 00:37:05,265 --> 00:37:08,505 Is yours focused on you or is yours focused on God? 781 00:37:09,765 --> 00:37:11,295 And that's where courage comes from, right? 782 00:37:11,565 --> 00:37:15,465 Because if, if you just spend all your time focusing on, on what 783 00:37:15,465 --> 00:37:16,725 you need, you're finite, right? 784 00:37:16,725 --> 00:37:19,035 We're we can't, we can't take care of all of our needs. 785 00:37:19,095 --> 00:37:19,905 We need God to do it. 786 00:37:22,515 --> 00:37:28,095 And so Jesus has not just given us a mission as men who say, Hey, go do that. 787 00:37:28,125 --> 00:37:28,815 Go evangelize. 788 00:37:29,505 --> 00:37:29,655 Right? 789 00:37:29,655 --> 00:37:30,855 It's actually Jesus' mission. 790 00:37:31,185 --> 00:37:32,325 I will build my church. 791 00:37:32,325 --> 00:37:33,015 That's what Jesus says. 792 00:37:33,510 --> 00:37:34,830 And he says, Hey, come with me. 793 00:37:35,370 --> 00:37:35,550 Right? 794 00:37:35,550 --> 00:37:39,240 Even the great commission, you think about it starts with all authority on 795 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,240 heaven and on earth has been given to me, and it ends with I'll be with you 796 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:45,000 always, even to the end of the age Gospel. 797 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,610 Courage is not divorced from Jesus, right? 798 00:37:47,670 --> 00:37:52,140 The Great Commission, God's mission for us is sandwiched by Jesus in control 799 00:37:52,170 --> 00:37:54,330 of everything, and he's just gonna be with you every step of the way. 800 00:37:55,020 --> 00:38:00,390 So I hope that gives you encouragement to go about God's mission with courage. 801 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:01,410 Jesus is with you. 802 00:38:01,980 --> 00:38:03,930 He is gonna win one day, right? 803 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,310 That's the main point of the book of Revelation. 804 00:38:05,430 --> 00:38:06,510 Jesus wins, right? 805 00:38:06,870 --> 00:38:09,180 You can, you can talk about all the different things that happen 806 00:38:09,210 --> 00:38:12,210 along the way, but the main point is, hey, this is what happens. 807 00:38:12,210 --> 00:38:13,830 Jesus wins, guys, right? 808 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,630 Our mission will succeed. 809 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:22,980 We just get to join in Jesus and share in the mission that He's already 810 00:38:23,550 --> 00:38:25,260 going to successfully accomplish. 811 00:38:26,130 --> 00:38:27,870 Let's pray and we'll go to smoke groups. 812 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:36,630 Father, we are grateful that you've given us more than we need. 813 00:38:37,050 --> 00:38:40,800 Um, your word says that you've given us everything we need for life and godliness, 814 00:38:41,250 --> 00:38:43,770 and so I pray that you give us courage. 815 00:38:43,830 --> 00:38:44,730 We need courage. 816 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:49,080 Um, we need courage to overcome our fears, our anxieties. 817 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,470 We need courage to rightly order our priorities and to trust you. 818 00:38:52,830 --> 00:38:54,660 We need courage to live a holy life. 819 00:38:55,530 --> 00:38:58,710 We need to fight against the, the temptations that come our way. 820 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:00,270 So I pray that you protect us. 821 00:39:00,390 --> 00:39:06,480 I pray that you help us to not be lone ranger Christian men, um, who feel like we 822 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,520 need to have it all together to succeed. 823 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:13,290 But I pray that we'd remember that a holy life starts with confessing sin. 824 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,250 And so I pray that you help us even right now in our small groups to be vulnerable, 825 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:22,620 to be honest, um, and to come alongside each other and help each other follow you. 826 00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:24,210 We pray this all in Jesus name. 827 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:24,990 Amen.