1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:04,120 Welcome to Heaven Earth Church. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,040 My name is Ross Stackhouse. 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,040 I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church. 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,280 From the beginning, our heart was to be a church for people who 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,040 don't fit neatly into church. 6 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,200 Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their stories, 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,720 to honor their stories. 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,840 Because in every human story is God's story. 9 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,840 In this podcast, you'll hear more about the people who now call 10 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:29,400 Heaven Earth Church home. 11 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,420 Their stories, in many cases of misfits who are discovering or 12 00:00:33,420 --> 00:00:34,700 rediscovering faith. 13 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:38,140 If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org 14 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:41,660 Otherwise, we invite you now into the story. 15 00:00:42,300 --> 00:00:43,180 Hello, good people. 16 00:00:43,180 --> 00:00:47,900 Brad Miller here, the producer of the Heaven Earth Church podcast. 17 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:51,940 One of the main benefits of being a part of the Heaven Earth 18 00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:57,980 Church community is our Sunday morning conversations taught by founding 19 00:00:57,980 --> 00:01:00,220 pastor Ross Stackhouse. 20 00:01:00,220 --> 00:01:04,900 You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation 21 00:01:05,460 --> 00:01:13,940 this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch. 22 00:01:14,980 --> 00:01:19,860 The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available 23 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:24,500 here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify 24 00:01:25,210 --> 00:01:31,890 and on the website, which is heavenerthchurch.org here now from 25 00:01:31,890 --> 00:01:37,930 the On Fire Message series is Pastor Ross Stackhouse with the message 26 00:01:38,170 --> 00:01:40,810 the Holy Spirit in each person. 27 00:01:53,060 --> 00:01:54,980 God help us to hear your voice. 28 00:01:55,380 --> 00:02:00,820 We ask that you would pierce the hardness of our hearts, but also 29 00:02:01,620 --> 00:02:08,540 soften our hearts because you got that way from hardship and trauma 30 00:02:08,540 --> 00:02:09,220 and hurt. 31 00:02:11,380 --> 00:02:12,260 Revive us. 32 00:02:12,740 --> 00:02:16,420 Speak to us in the name of Jesus. 33 00:02:17,060 --> 00:02:17,540 Amen. 34 00:02:18,820 --> 00:02:22,740 All right, listen, I'm gonna read you a quote that is offensive, 35 00:02:23,380 --> 00:02:24,580 and I'm not joking. 36 00:02:27,140 --> 00:02:31,180 If so that's this. 37 00:02:31,180 --> 00:02:32,100 It's planned. 38 00:02:33,300 --> 00:02:35,460 I want you to guess who said this. 39 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:36,980 All right? 40 00:02:38,740 --> 00:02:39,620 It wasn't. 41 00:02:39,620 --> 00:02:40,060 Yeah. 42 00:02:40,060 --> 00:02:41,220 Anyways, I'll just keep going. 43 00:02:41,220 --> 00:02:41,540 Now. 44 00:02:41,620 --> 00:02:42,500 Who said this? 45 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:44,760 Telling you this is. 46 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:45,600 This is offensive. 47 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,040 There's a physical difference between the white and black races 48 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,880 which will ever forbid the two races living together on terms of 49 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:58,960 social and political equality. 50 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,400 And inasmuch as they cannot so live while they do remain together, 51 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,600 there must be the position of superior. 52 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,680 I am, as much as any other man, in favor of having the superior 53 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:11,420 position assigned to the white race. 54 00:03:11,570 --> 00:03:11,890 Race? 55 00:03:14,050 --> 00:03:16,050 Are you like this is whiplash, Ross? 56 00:03:16,050 --> 00:03:17,490 You're just gonna jump in with that? 57 00:03:17,490 --> 00:03:18,610 You've been gone for three weeks. 58 00:03:18,610 --> 00:03:19,490 You're gonna read that? 59 00:03:21,490 --> 00:03:22,450 Who said that? 60 00:03:26,450 --> 00:03:27,729 That's a great guess. 61 00:03:27,729 --> 00:03:30,130 Thomas Jefferson, but it is not correct. 62 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:33,170 It. 63 00:03:33,490 --> 00:03:35,290 My brother also guessed that. 64 00:03:35,290 --> 00:03:35,770 Katie. 65 00:03:35,770 --> 00:03:37,170 It's not Woodrow Wilson. 66 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,160 Jefferson actually, in a way, did the opposite. 67 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,120 Outwardly, he spoke about being vehemently against slavery 68 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,000 in his original draft of the Declaration, wanted to say something 69 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:46,520 about it. 70 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,040 He was meanwhile holding on to his slaves for dear life. 71 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,360 So I'm giving you a little hint. 72 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,880 This is somebody you wouldn't expect, not Washington. 73 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:00,840 The great emancipator. 74 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:03,080 Abraham Lincoln said that. 75 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:11,700 Abraham Lincoln said that he was in a debate with Stephen Douglas 76 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:17,020 in 1858 vying for a Senate seat. 77 00:04:17,660 --> 00:04:21,180 And some historians have said he said this to kind of garner some 78 00:04:21,180 --> 00:04:25,700 favor with the constituents who wanted to make sure that he wasn't 79 00:04:25,700 --> 00:04:27,260 going to shake things up too much. 80 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:31,740 It's okay if you're anti slavery, but don't be an abolitionist. 81 00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:37,020 It's okay if you're against slavery, but, hey, chill. 82 00:04:38,860 --> 00:04:41,820 The reason I say that is because I am. 83 00:04:42,140 --> 00:04:43,900 I love Abraham Lincoln. 84 00:04:44,620 --> 00:04:45,100 I don't. 85 00:04:45,100 --> 00:04:47,460 I think he's the greatest president of all time. 86 00:04:47,460 --> 00:04:48,460 I don't think it's close. 87 00:04:49,660 --> 00:04:52,780 I have no authority to say that, except it's just my opinion. 88 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:58,060 He is an example of sometimes we don't know what we don't know, 89 00:05:01,260 --> 00:05:02,140 he didn't know. 90 00:05:02,940 --> 00:05:05,340 Like, there's a layer of when we don't know things. 91 00:05:05,340 --> 00:05:11,660 Like, for example, I know that I don't know what the theory of relativity 92 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:12,300 actually is. 93 00:05:12,620 --> 00:05:13,420 I know that. 94 00:05:13,980 --> 00:05:15,580 I know that I don't know that. 95 00:05:15,740 --> 00:05:18,860 I know that I don't know how long I'm going to live on this earth. 96 00:05:20,380 --> 00:05:22,620 But sometimes there's like a double layer. 97 00:05:24,230 --> 00:05:27,390 And it's kind of haunting as human beings, really, that sometimes 98 00:05:27,390 --> 00:05:28,710 we don't know what we don't know. 99 00:05:30,470 --> 00:05:36,110 And I think in this case, Abraham Lincoln was in that double 100 00:05:36,110 --> 00:05:36,630 layer. 101 00:05:38,550 --> 00:05:39,190 He had. 102 00:05:39,270 --> 00:05:40,310 He wasn't even. 103 00:05:40,470 --> 00:05:44,150 He wasn't asking even questions about slavery that he would 104 00:05:44,150 --> 00:05:45,750 be asking three years later. 105 00:05:48,230 --> 00:05:53,420 And sometimes it's not until we meet a person that really just 106 00:05:53,980 --> 00:05:57,060 maybe somebody, like we haven't met before, or we go through 107 00:05:57,060 --> 00:06:00,340 an experience that wakes us up to our error, our ignorance, and 108 00:06:00,340 --> 00:06:01,020 our evil. 109 00:06:02,460 --> 00:06:05,380 And Abraham Lincoln met a lot of people who did that for him. 110 00:06:05,380 --> 00:06:12,140 But one was a guy by the name of Frederick Douglass who came to 111 00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:20,660 the White House in 1863 after Lincoln had issued the Emancipation 112 00:06:20,660 --> 00:06:21,340 Proclamation. 113 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:25,280 And Douglass came with some complaints about how black soldiers 114 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:28,000 were being treated, how they were being paid less than white soldiers, 115 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:29,960 how they couldn't be commissioned as officers. 116 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,320 They were fighting, but they weren't getting paid equally. 117 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,480 They were willing to shed blood, but they couldn't be commissioned 118 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:36,280 as officers. 119 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:43,280 Lincoln started to wake up, and when he first started the Civil 120 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:46,080 War, he was willing to save The Union. 121 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,760 He said this, if I could save the Union and free all the slaves, 122 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:50,360 I'll do it. 123 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,480 If I could save the Union and free none of the slaves, I'd do it. 124 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,380 If I could save the Union by freeing the some and leaving others, 125 00:06:56,380 --> 00:06:57,140 I'll do it. 126 00:06:58,420 --> 00:07:03,740 By 1863 and 64, Abraham Lincoln was not willing to finish 127 00:07:03,740 --> 00:07:08,100 the Civil War without taking a massive step toward abolishing slavery. 128 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:15,860 It shows you what God can do in people, even people who are doing 129 00:07:15,860 --> 00:07:16,740 vile stuff. 130 00:07:19,940 --> 00:07:20,820 He changed. 131 00:07:22,710 --> 00:07:24,070 He changed dramatically. 132 00:07:24,230 --> 00:07:28,790 And thank God for it, because there are a bunch of leaders before 133 00:07:28,790 --> 00:07:32,950 him that were kicking the can down the road all the way back to 134 00:07:32,950 --> 00:07:34,310 the Declaration of Independence. 135 00:07:34,310 --> 00:07:37,870 They knew they should have done something about it, and they 136 00:07:37,870 --> 00:07:38,150 did. 137 00:07:39,670 --> 00:07:40,470 What about us? 138 00:07:44,470 --> 00:07:45,350 What about us? 139 00:07:45,590 --> 00:07:48,470 I want to ask you a question, and I hope you'll be honest with 140 00:07:48,470 --> 00:07:48,950 yourself. 141 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:51,840 No need to be dishonest. 142 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:54,480 Look inside yourself. 143 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:55,280 Look in the mirror. 144 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,240 Do you tend to assume there's a lot you don't know yet? 145 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,040 Or if you're honest, do you tend to assume that you're kind of 146 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:11,680 close to knowing much of what you need to know? 147 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:17,130 Be honest with yourself, which are you? 148 00:08:20,810 --> 00:08:24,690 You tend to assume that there's a lot that you don't know. 149 00:08:24,690 --> 00:08:27,050 Maybe even you don't know what you don't know. 150 00:08:27,450 --> 00:08:30,610 Or actually day to day, moment to moment, do you kind of operate 151 00:08:30,610 --> 00:08:33,410 more with the assumption that I'm pretty close to what I need to 152 00:08:33,410 --> 00:08:33,690 know? 153 00:08:34,730 --> 00:08:40,510 I'll hang up and listen. 154 00:08:40,740 --> 00:08:41,380 Natalie. 155 00:08:41,780 --> 00:08:47,620 I think as a general principle, I tend to say I am still 156 00:08:47,620 --> 00:08:48,660 relatively young. 157 00:08:48,980 --> 00:08:52,380 There's a lot I don't know yet that I will need to know throughout 158 00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:52,820 my life. 159 00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:55,260 So it's probably a little easier for me to say, I don't know 160 00:08:55,260 --> 00:08:56,100 what I don't know. 161 00:08:56,660 --> 00:09:00,020 But also with certain subjects, I'm like, yeah, I know 162 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:00,340 that. 163 00:09:01,220 --> 00:09:03,140 So it kind of depends on the situation. 164 00:09:03,620 --> 00:09:08,770 Natalie says it depends on the situation at self identifying as 165 00:09:08,770 --> 00:09:09,370 a young person. 166 00:09:09,370 --> 00:09:12,210 There's a lot she says that she doesn't know and doesn't know 167 00:09:12,210 --> 00:09:13,130 that she doesn't know. 168 00:09:13,370 --> 00:09:16,010 But there are some subjects where she's like, I feel pretty certain. 169 00:09:17,130 --> 00:09:17,930 What about you? 170 00:09:17,930 --> 00:09:18,610 Rest of you? 171 00:09:18,610 --> 00:09:32,820 Kara, you never. 172 00:09:50,660 --> 00:09:52,980 Kara just shared the experience of seeing a video for 173 00:09:52,980 --> 00:09:56,780 her company that was like a 50th anniversary video where there 174 00:09:56,780 --> 00:09:59,300 was an elderly gentleman who said, you're never too old to keep 175 00:09:59,300 --> 00:09:59,700 learning. 176 00:10:01,450 --> 00:10:01,930 What else? 177 00:10:01,930 --> 00:10:02,650 Crystal? 178 00:10:09,210 --> 00:10:09,770 Yeah. 179 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:11,930 Turn 40. 180 00:10:12,010 --> 00:10:13,690 The older you get, the lesser, you know. 181 00:10:13,690 --> 00:10:14,650 I feel that way too. 182 00:10:14,650 --> 00:10:15,210 Ralph. 183 00:10:22,890 --> 00:10:23,450 Yeah. 184 00:10:23,770 --> 00:10:24,730 Ralph says that. 185 00:10:25,290 --> 00:10:26,370 What did you call yourself? 186 00:10:26,370 --> 00:10:31,650 An old Man, Ralph, he said, I still. 187 00:10:31,650 --> 00:10:34,650 He operates by a phrase like be curious, not judgmental. 188 00:10:35,850 --> 00:10:38,970 Lucy, okay. 189 00:10:39,050 --> 00:10:40,890 She wants to say she's not as old. 190 00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:13,700 Yeah, yeah. 191 00:11:14,020 --> 00:11:16,980 Lucy just talked about the virtue of having a teachable heart. 192 00:11:18,020 --> 00:11:18,580 Yep. 193 00:11:19,490 --> 00:11:19,890 Charles. 194 00:12:19,670 --> 00:12:21,190 Yeah, Charles talks. 195 00:12:21,190 --> 00:12:24,150 Just kind of concurs with, you know, we kind of don't know. 196 00:12:24,150 --> 00:12:26,790 We don't know until we meet somebody or go through an experience 197 00:12:26,790 --> 00:12:32,470 where we, we, we get, we woken up to this, what we didn't know. 198 00:12:32,470 --> 00:12:35,190 And, and now we're like, man, I need to know more about that. 199 00:12:37,660 --> 00:12:38,460 I want to show you. 200 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:43,060 I want to give you just a simple, simple thing to take with 201 00:12:43,060 --> 00:12:43,540 you today. 202 00:12:43,540 --> 00:12:47,700 Especially as we think about baptisms, we have three people reaffirming 203 00:12:47,700 --> 00:12:48,460 their baptisms. 204 00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:50,860 They were baptized once, but they decided. 205 00:12:50,860 --> 00:12:55,980 At this point in my life, I really want to go all in with being 206 00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:57,260 born again from above. 207 00:12:59,020 --> 00:13:01,780 And I love that imagery because what we're saying is that 208 00:13:01,780 --> 00:13:03,180 we're like spiritual babies. 209 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:06,380 We have to learn how to walk and talk. 210 00:13:08,140 --> 00:13:11,580 And as I talked with one of my children about yesterday, we have 211 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:13,260 to learn what to do with our big feelings. 212 00:13:16,380 --> 00:13:16,860 All right. 213 00:13:17,900 --> 00:13:19,980 Gotta learn what to do with our big feelings. 214 00:13:21,340 --> 00:13:26,700 And if we have that mindset, especially when we get confronted 215 00:13:26,940 --> 00:13:30,020 with somebody like we haven't met before or an experience that 216 00:13:30,020 --> 00:13:34,260 is totally disorienting, if we can get through those big feelings 217 00:13:34,260 --> 00:13:38,040 and embrace that discipleship essential. 218 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,120 We talk about being humble, hungry and willing. 219 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,120 If we can be humble, hungry and willing, we are going to discover 220 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,040 that Jesus is still going to do something we don't think is possible. 221 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,560 We're not even considering it. 222 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:52,920 I can tell you. 223 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,520 I confess that a lot of times my mindset, my assumption is that 224 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,600 I've grown the majority of what I'm going to in my spiritual 225 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:00,920 life. 226 00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:03,900 I already had my awakening. 227 00:14:03,980 --> 00:14:05,340 I've had a couple of them. 228 00:14:05,660 --> 00:14:09,980 And now there's just a little Jesus just doing a little fine sandpaper 229 00:14:09,980 --> 00:14:10,620 on my life. 230 00:14:12,620 --> 00:14:13,180 Whoo. 231 00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:17,099 I keep learning that. 232 00:14:17,099 --> 00:14:17,780 Oh, okay. 233 00:14:17,780 --> 00:14:21,020 We're gonna still do some big demolition work here. 234 00:14:24,060 --> 00:14:27,500 What we see in the earliest movement that something miraculous 235 00:14:27,500 --> 00:14:28,540 of God is afoot. 236 00:14:29,010 --> 00:14:33,490 It still is that Jesus started and he passed on to ordinary people, 237 00:14:33,490 --> 00:14:36,770 some of the most unlikely people who became extraordinary spirit 238 00:14:36,770 --> 00:14:37,970 filled torch carriers. 239 00:14:39,010 --> 00:14:44,889 Jesus desire is to encircle us with his light and invite us into 240 00:14:44,889 --> 00:14:45,610 the unknown with him. 241 00:14:45,610 --> 00:14:49,290 I want to show you the quickest example of this in Acts 242 00:14:49,290 --> 00:14:50,210 of the Apostles. 243 00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:54,130 It's the documentation of the narrative about the Jesus movement. 244 00:14:54,130 --> 00:14:59,690 After Jesus exited stage, not left or right, kind of up, he ascended 245 00:15:00,010 --> 00:15:04,730 and he passed on this movement, and he said, you're going 246 00:15:04,730 --> 00:15:08,210 to be my witnesses, starting here in Jerusalem, then to Judea, 247 00:15:08,210 --> 00:15:10,570 then to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. 248 00:15:11,930 --> 00:15:14,570 Well, sure enough, by chapter eight, that is happening. 249 00:15:14,570 --> 00:15:20,690 There's a guy by the name of Philip who is doing miraculous stuff 250 00:15:20,690 --> 00:15:21,690 in chapter eight. 251 00:15:21,770 --> 00:15:27,420 Suffice it to say, he is doing miraculous stuff. 252 00:15:27,420 --> 00:15:30,340 Philip is in chapter eight. 253 00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:35,540 But the narrative, the writer of this story is trying to tip us 254 00:15:35,540 --> 00:15:36,340 off to something. 255 00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:40,740 If we were hearing it for the first time, it would be like suspense 256 00:15:40,740 --> 00:15:41,860 in a movie or a book. 257 00:15:43,220 --> 00:15:47,140 Chapter eight has two, like, sandwich buns. 258 00:15:48,500 --> 00:15:51,940 It's sandwiched in between verse 8:1 and 9:1. 259 00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:57,390 So there's amazing God, amazing stuff going on in chapter 260 00:15:57,390 --> 00:15:57,750 eight. 261 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:00,790 But there's this snake in the grass lurking. 262 00:16:01,750 --> 00:16:02,390 Look at this. 263 00:16:05,030 --> 00:16:07,310 Read that first sentence before the next paragraph. 264 00:16:07,310 --> 00:16:07,750 Go ahead. 265 00:16:14,550 --> 00:16:16,510 The first martyr gets stoned to death. 266 00:16:16,510 --> 00:16:18,230 And they're just listening commentary. 267 00:16:19,530 --> 00:16:20,890 Little itty bitty commentary. 268 00:16:22,250 --> 00:16:23,770 Saul was in full agreement. 269 00:16:23,770 --> 00:16:24,530 This guy named Saul. 270 00:16:24,530 --> 00:16:25,050 Who's this? 271 00:16:25,290 --> 00:16:26,530 Saul wasn't even mentioned. 272 00:16:26,530 --> 00:16:26,810 Really. 273 00:16:27,690 --> 00:16:30,010 It's like, there's this guy named Saul who was happy about a 274 00:16:30,010 --> 00:16:30,970 dude being murdered. 275 00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:36,130 Then chapter eight, amazing stories fill up with this Ethiopian 276 00:16:36,130 --> 00:16:37,850 eunuch in Samaria. 277 00:16:38,170 --> 00:16:41,370 The enemies, the worst of the worst people, according to some of 278 00:16:41,370 --> 00:16:43,690 Jesus's kind, were like, they're getting this, too. 279 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:44,800 They're included. 280 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:45,160 What? 281 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:46,920 And then 9:1 happens. 282 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:53,400 Meanwhile, Saul was still spewing out murderous threats against 283 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:54,520 the Lord's disciples. 284 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:59,200 This guy was going to the high priest, asking for letters to the 285 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:00,680 synagogues in Damascus. 286 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,960 He was going about and doing raids. 287 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,250 This guy was up to this. 288 00:17:12,930 --> 00:17:15,850 His story would be cool if we didn't know this context. 289 00:17:15,850 --> 00:17:18,050 When we know this context, it's like, whoa. 290 00:17:21,170 --> 00:17:26,050 During the journey, as he approached Damascus, suddenly you 291 00:17:26,050 --> 00:17:26,690 read the rest. 292 00:17:26,850 --> 00:17:42,180 Suddenly, man, this Saul guy, I've told you before, he went to, 293 00:17:42,180 --> 00:17:48,060 like, the Columbia of the ancient near east of the time. 294 00:17:48,060 --> 00:17:50,300 He was educated in this place called Tarsus. 295 00:17:50,780 --> 00:17:51,900 Smart fella. 296 00:17:52,700 --> 00:17:55,580 He was a scholar of the first five books of the Bible. 297 00:17:55,740 --> 00:17:57,660 Probably had most of it memorized. 298 00:17:58,620 --> 00:18:02,060 And, buddy, he was walking around making sure everybody is following 299 00:18:02,220 --> 00:18:04,180 every word of it. 300 00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:06,900 He thought he was a big deal. 301 00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:10,300 And he was going around oppressing and harassing. 302 00:18:10,300 --> 00:18:12,420 This way he was. 303 00:18:12,420 --> 00:18:13,860 Stephen's getting stoned to death. 304 00:18:13,860 --> 00:18:15,220 He's like, gosh, this is great. 305 00:18:16,260 --> 00:18:18,020 So glad that guy got stoned. 306 00:18:18,580 --> 00:18:19,060 Yeah. 307 00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:20,780 Chapter nine. 308 00:18:20,780 --> 00:18:22,180 He's like, who else can we murder? 309 00:18:22,580 --> 00:18:23,460 These idiots? 310 00:18:23,460 --> 00:18:26,660 Following the way these blasphemers. 311 00:18:29,550 --> 00:18:32,030 And then suddenly, a light from heaven encircled him. 312 00:18:39,710 --> 00:18:40,750 He fell to the ground. 313 00:18:40,750 --> 00:18:44,350 In a verse, he heard a voice saying, saul, Saul. 314 00:18:44,350 --> 00:18:45,750 Jesus doesn't do that very often. 315 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:47,710 Call people by their name twice like that. 316 00:18:49,070 --> 00:18:52,350 It's like he's got to get through Saul's thick head. 317 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,120 Why are you harassing me? 318 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:57,960 Really quick commentary on that. 319 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,640 Jesus says in Matthew 25, when you've not done it for the least 320 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,240 of these, you've done that to me. 321 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,160 So when Saul is harassing all these other people, Jesus says, you're 322 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:07,960 doing it to me. 323 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,240 And when you're not doing something to help the vulnerable, 324 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:13,320 you're doing it to me. 325 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,600 Why are you harassing me? 326 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:22,540 And here is what Saul did not know that he did not know because 327 00:19:22,540 --> 00:19:24,980 he was so fully assuming. 328 00:19:25,220 --> 00:19:26,820 I know who God is. 329 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:29,060 I've got it down. 330 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:31,460 But he says it. 331 00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:32,660 He indicts himself. 332 00:19:33,780 --> 00:19:36,340 He had no idea that he didn't know who God is. 333 00:19:41,620 --> 00:19:42,940 Go ahead, ask his question. 334 00:19:42,940 --> 00:19:52,190 Saul asked, he didn't have any idea who the Lord is. 335 00:19:53,470 --> 00:19:54,430 Isn't that scary? 336 00:19:54,830 --> 00:19:58,990 We can be all in religiously religious experts. 337 00:19:58,990 --> 00:19:59,790 We can be. 338 00:20:00,430 --> 00:20:01,950 I just watched Star wars yesterday. 339 00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:03,710 So a little Yoda slipped in right there. 340 00:20:09,550 --> 00:20:11,230 But Saul was on the dark side. 341 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:14,280 He thought he was on the. 342 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,560 He was oppressing the rebellion, the good rebellion. 343 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,880 This Jesus fellow says, I am Jesus, whom you are harassing. 344 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,400 So here's the so what for today, because we got to get on to 345 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:35,400 some baptisms. 346 00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:42,530 At this moment, Saul has to do whatever Jesus says, right? 347 00:20:44,450 --> 00:20:44,850 Right. 348 00:20:47,810 --> 00:20:54,290 Does he listen? 349 00:20:54,369 --> 00:20:57,690 When we have these moments where an awakening gets presented 350 00:20:57,690 --> 00:21:01,210 to us, Jesus doesn't work by force. 351 00:21:01,210 --> 00:21:02,450 That's not relationship. 352 00:21:05,180 --> 00:21:07,660 He'll show up in certain ways and invite us. 353 00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:09,420 Then the ball is in our court. 354 00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:15,660 Saul could have had this big old vision, disorienting moment, 355 00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:21,300 and then he could have adjusted right back to the denial 356 00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:27,620 room of change instead of going to the confusion room, which 357 00:21:27,620 --> 00:21:30,060 is the one that you get, you have to go through before renewal. 358 00:21:32,260 --> 00:21:34,060 He could have been like, okay, I'm. 359 00:21:34,060 --> 00:21:35,660 I didn't get enough sleep last night. 360 00:21:35,660 --> 00:21:38,100 You guys need to get more sleep. 361 00:21:39,220 --> 00:21:40,540 Had a little bit too much wine. 362 00:21:40,540 --> 00:21:41,140 I need to. 363 00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:42,900 What's going on? 364 00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,420 Anyways, let's make our way to Damascus and get some people out 365 00:21:46,420 --> 00:21:48,940 of those synagogues and take them over to be stoned. 366 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:50,180 I don't know what happened, guys. 367 00:21:50,180 --> 00:21:51,220 Sorry about that. 368 00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:57,060 You all knew I wasn't going to make the 10:30 deadline. 369 00:22:00,900 --> 00:22:02,420 Good thing there's grace for me, too. 370 00:22:04,660 --> 00:22:06,140 He doesn't have to do any. 371 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:08,020 He could resist this with all his might. 372 00:22:11,780 --> 00:22:13,900 Jesus says, now get up and Enter the city. 373 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:15,980 You will be told what you must do during it. 374 00:22:15,980 --> 00:22:17,140 Jesus always does that. 375 00:22:18,260 --> 00:22:19,860 He doesn't give you the whole vision. 376 00:22:20,100 --> 00:22:21,140 A hundred steps. 377 00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:21,980 He gives you one. 378 00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:23,540 Gives you enough vision for one step. 379 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,080 Hey, I want you to go to the city. 380 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:33,880 What's missing here is so that he'll do the same thing in chapter 381 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,320 10 with Peter and Cornelius. 382 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,080 Some of us are stuck, and we're not going because we don't 383 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:39,880 have the so that. 384 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,200 And we're saying, I have to have that. 385 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,560 You must give me the so that so I can keep going. 386 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,000 Those traveling were like, what in the world just happened? 387 00:22:52,890 --> 00:22:54,650 They picked him up, man. 388 00:22:54,650 --> 00:22:55,450 It gets worse. 389 00:22:55,530 --> 00:22:57,610 Saul opens his eyes and he can't see. 390 00:23:00,890 --> 00:23:02,570 This awakening is blinding. 391 00:23:05,450 --> 00:23:08,730 He was at the top of the heap, Saul was, for much of his life. 392 00:23:08,730 --> 00:23:12,330 And now he is humbled to the point of not being able to see and 393 00:23:12,970 --> 00:23:16,490 needing to be led by hand to the place he wants to go. 394 00:23:19,300 --> 00:23:21,380 You know what he does? 395 00:23:21,380 --> 00:23:21,700 It. 396 00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:26,180 Look what God can do. 397 00:23:28,820 --> 00:23:33,059 This guy, this guy. 398 00:23:34,980 --> 00:23:40,980 Jesus wakes up and this guy sticks with it, even though he can't 399 00:23:40,980 --> 00:23:41,220 see. 400 00:23:41,220 --> 00:23:43,700 For three days, he doesn't eat or drink. 401 00:23:47,700 --> 00:23:51,620 And then he goes, I wouldn't even remember this fellow's name 402 00:23:51,620 --> 00:23:53,460 if I hadn't been doing the story this week. 403 00:23:55,540 --> 00:23:56,460 Minor character. 404 00:23:56,460 --> 00:23:58,020 Ananias does the same thing. 405 00:23:58,020 --> 00:23:59,700 This is what a disciple looks like. 406 00:24:00,340 --> 00:24:01,620 The Lord spoke to him. 407 00:24:01,780 --> 00:24:04,180 Ananias, he knows who the Lord is. 408 00:24:04,180 --> 00:24:05,860 He's not a big, very important person. 409 00:24:05,860 --> 00:24:07,740 And yet, weirdly, he knows who the Lord is. 410 00:24:07,740 --> 00:24:12,020 When the Lord says this guy's name, Ananias says, yes, Lord. 411 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:14,800 See the difference? 412 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,480 Saul, Big important guy, super educated, lots of power. 413 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:20,360 Jesus says his name. 414 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:21,520 He goes, who are you, Lord? 415 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,760 This guy who's an unimportant person. 416 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:25,680 I wouldn't even remember his name. 417 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,680 Jesus says his name, and he goes, yes, Lord. 418 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:32,160 That we don't know. 419 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:33,920 What we don't know is not a problem. 420 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:41,670 But if we're proud, satisfied, stubborn, that's the problem. 421 00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:48,710 The Lord instructs him, hey, I want you to go meet this fella named 422 00:24:48,710 --> 00:24:49,190 Saul. 423 00:24:50,150 --> 00:24:56,150 And then Ananias goes, oh, and by the way, I want you to put hands 424 00:24:56,150 --> 00:24:57,510 on him and restore his sight. 425 00:24:58,150 --> 00:25:03,830 Ananias says, excuse me, isn't this guy the villain? 426 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:09,440 I've heard some things about him, Lord. 427 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,840 And you know what Lord says? 428 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:16,320 Yep. 429 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,680 I have called him to a mission he doesn't even know about yet. 430 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:24,240 And guess what? 431 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:26,400 Ananias does it, too. 432 00:25:30,170 --> 00:25:30,970 He shows up. 433 00:25:31,450 --> 00:25:34,890 And then Saul goes on one missionary journey, and on the next 434 00:25:34,890 --> 00:25:37,930 one, he goes farther and on the next one he goes farther and 435 00:25:37,930 --> 00:25:40,050 then finally he ends up in Rome and loses his life. 436 00:25:40,050 --> 00:25:41,850 We are sitting in his legacy today. 437 00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:47,050 So I leave you with this. 438 00:25:48,490 --> 00:25:50,010 Are you done learning yet? 439 00:25:55,850 --> 00:25:58,010 Have you learned everything that there is to learn? 440 00:26:00,570 --> 00:26:06,690 And if the Lord shows up to you and gives you an awakening, what 441 00:26:06,690 --> 00:26:07,290 will you do? 442 00:26:11,050 --> 00:26:12,410 Will you need to sow that? 443 00:26:15,610 --> 00:26:18,890 Or will you say, I'll get enough vision for just the next step? 444 00:26:22,170 --> 00:26:26,870 In the last 30 days, friends, I have been back to this disorienting 445 00:26:27,350 --> 00:26:30,670 demolition time with Jesus that I thought I was done with. 446 00:26:30,670 --> 00:26:33,430 I didn't realize, I didn't think that, I thought I was done 447 00:26:33,430 --> 00:26:34,470 with it until it happened. 448 00:26:34,470 --> 00:26:35,390 And I was like, oh shoot. 449 00:26:35,390 --> 00:26:36,710 I thought I was done with all that. 450 00:26:39,510 --> 00:26:40,709 We'll do it our whole lives. 451 00:26:43,430 --> 00:26:46,870 So let us keep being curious. 452 00:26:49,430 --> 00:26:50,430 Let us be humble. 453 00:26:50,430 --> 00:26:52,510 Let us hungry and willing. 454 00:26:55,150 --> 00:27:00,950 Lord, thank you that you meet us where we are, that you're willing 455 00:27:00,950 --> 00:27:04,470 to encircle us in light even when we seem to be committed to the 456 00:27:04,470 --> 00:27:04,990 darkness. 457 00:27:06,669 --> 00:27:10,470 I ask Lord, that when you encircle us in light in the coming 458 00:27:10,470 --> 00:27:15,150 days, when you encircle us in light in the coming days, help us 459 00:27:15,150 --> 00:27:15,870 to see it. 460 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,880 And even if we are blinded by it and we feel like we can't eat 461 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,280 or drink, help us to keep going with you. 462 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:29,400 In Jesus name, Amen. 463 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,880 Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven 464 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:37,960 Earth Church. 465 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:43,790 Your next opportunity to do so live is this Sunday morning, 9:30am 466 00:27:44,830 --> 00:27:49,350 Eastern Time, either at the main campus at 309 East Main in Whiteland, 467 00:27:49,350 --> 00:27:53,390 Indiana or online at YouTube Live. 468 00:27:53,790 --> 00:28:02,550 That's@YouTube.com heavenerthchurch the audio podcast 469 00:28:02,550 --> 00:28:08,120 is always available at Apple Podcast and on so Spotify. 470 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,840 You can help others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast 471 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,960 by going to Apple Podcasts and or Spotify and leaving a five star 472 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:19,560 rating in your review. 473 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:24,360 Instructions on how to do just that and links are in the show notes. 474 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,800 You can always find out more by going to the church website heavenearthchurch.org. 475 00:28:34,690 --> 00:28:37,010 We want to thank you for spending time with us today. 476 00:28:37,170 --> 00:28:40,530 My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church 477 00:28:40,930 --> 00:28:44,250 and you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact 478 00:28:44,250 --> 00:28:47,330 your faith story may just be beginning. 479 00:28:47,650 --> 00:28:50,410 If you want more information about our church or you're interested 480 00:28:50,410 --> 00:28:54,530 in the next step, you can go to heavenearthchurch.org otherwise 481 00:28:54,530 --> 00:28:57,690 we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth 482 00:28:57,690 --> 00:28:58,530 Church Podcast.