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We are in our series, His Church.

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I originally was supposed to bring this message today, but I believe that Pastor Justin has

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the Word for us.

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So, would you welcome Pastor Justin.

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Thank you, brother.

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Thank you, sir.

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Stop it.

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That works.

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I'd like to be closer to the people just for the next time.

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Before you get too comfortable and get your Bible and your pen and your notes and everything,

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y'all go ahead and stand with me.

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We're gonna read the scripture for this morning and you can get your Bible, your pen, your

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pad, your notes out.

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We can relax.

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Is it on me again?

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All right, here we go.

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I never know if it's like if I'm doing it or if they're doing it, I'll start doing it.

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Watch, here's what's gonna happen.

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I'll start doing it halfway through.

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I'll start preaching and forget and then they will take over.

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This is exactly what's gonna happen.

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For now, let's stand and read the Word together.

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Here we go.

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"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and

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of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

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you.

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And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age."

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Father, I thank you so much for your Word.

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I thank you for the life that it brings.

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"I ask that your anointing would be on me to speak clearly to your people, that you would

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open our hearts to an encounter with you, that we would be changed more and more into

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the image of your Son, Christ Jesus, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

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It's in Christ's name I pray, amen and amen.

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You guys can be seated.

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So last week, Pastor Kevin shared a little bit about the vision concerning our church,

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Springhouse Church, and what the Lord has specifically called us to do.

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But how does that fit within the framework or the calling of the church at large?

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So today, we're gonna dig a little bit deeper and we're gonna ask, what is God's idea for

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the church?

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Where did the church come from?

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How did the church begin?

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How did this all get started?

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What we're doing here today is an outflowing or a result of something that started long,

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long ago.

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So for millennia, men have claimed to know what God means for the church.

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We've all claimed to know what God means for the church.

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This has led to divisions, infighting, tribalism, if you know what tribalism is, and sometimes

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when somebody moves to a new area of town, they will post on Facebook their criteria

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that they're looking for for their new church.

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And if you've done that, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it.

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It's the same thing as Vol fans don't wanna hang out with Gator fans.

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We just don't.

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Can I get an amen?

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Right?

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The only time is if we're sharing a ride to the SEC tournament, we'll go together and

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then split ways.

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It's tribalism.

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We wanna hang with our tribe.

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Same reason you unfriend people that you don't like on Facebook.

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That's tribalism.

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It's also led to different methods, dogmas, as well as religious sects and denominations.

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If you're a friend of mine, you probably know this is how I read my Bible most days.

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If I've called you or spoken to you within the last two weeks, you've probably been on

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the receiving end of something that looks similar to this, right?

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But I have, this is an example of a fan theory.

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I have several fan theories when it comes to denominations.

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Does everybody know what a fan theory is?

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No?

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Okay, I'm explaining what a fan theory is.

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Okay?

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I like superhero movies.

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And sometimes when they make a superhero movie, there are undercurrents or themes that are

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not overtly expressed in the movie.

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And so fans will get together and try to decipher what they really meant by that.

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Okay?

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That's a fan theory.

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And then they'll post them in blogs and online and they'll argue about them and defend their

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point because this is what we believe the director really was trying to say even though

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they didn't say that.

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And I have two fan theories when it comes to denominations.

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Like I said, I said that up front so that you don't say, "This is why we have denominations."

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This is a fan theory of mine.

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Okay?

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The first one.

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I believe we have different denominations in the church, Baptist, Church of Christ,

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Pentecostal, non-denominational, although we think we get out of it.

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That's an actual denomination.

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We're a non-denominational church.

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No, you just declared.

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I think part of the reason why is to keep the enemy on his toes.

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Because the same thing you get over here at the Church of Christ, you definitely don't

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get over here at the non-denominational church and you definitely don't get over here at

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the Methodist church or the Presbyterian church.

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I think it's part of it is structured as a tactic so that the enemy doesn't necessarily

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know what to do every Sunday morning when he comes to church.

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So lesser, lesser, it's not so high on my fan theory scale, but it's up there.

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The real reason I think we have so many denominations is we've all seen the last five minutes of

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the movie, the Death, Burrow, and Resurrection, and we're trying to figure out what the first

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95% of the movie meant.

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And you go to different churches and they'll say, "Well, here's what the first 95% means,

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and here's what this means, and here's what this means, and here's what this means."

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Sin theories is actually what gets us in the weeds in the church.

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We think we know what God really meant by the church, and so instead of us continuing

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to build this guesswork and conjectured theology, let's look at the text and draw from it what

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has actually been revealed to us instead of our idea of what the church is supposed to

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look like.

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So the people of God began with the creation of Adam and Eve in the garden.

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They enjoyed fellowship and intimacy with God as image bearers.

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Adam and Eve rebel against God's command, and they begin the journey towards restoration.

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And this is what we're all trying to get back to.

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We're trying to get back to that intimacy and fellowship we experienced, although we

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didn't experience, mankind experienced intimacy with God.

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And we're all trying to get back there.

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Genesis 3 15, God promises a victory.

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He promises a victory in spite of the rebellion with the announcement of the seed war.

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This is the first rebellion.

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He says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her

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offspring."

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Now, he's talking to the serpent.

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The serpent's offspring and the offspring of the woman will be at odds.

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And he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

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This is a messianic prophecy that we see at the very beginning.

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But more importantly, I want us to look at two principles or two themes that have been

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playing out in the church since the beginning.

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Are you ready?

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Here's the first one.

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Eve was operating on secondhand information.

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Eve was operating on secondhand information.

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God told Adam, "Don't eat the fruit."

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And Adam told Eve.

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So when the enemy comes at her, he says, "Did God really say?"

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And what does she, "Well, I don't know if he really said that."

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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Most of us come to church and we rely on Pastor Kevin and Pastor Barbie and Pastor Ronnie

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to declare the Word of God and we never go fact check it or look at it and say, "God,

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is this real in my life?"

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You go and live your life based on something I said and you didn't want to get to heaven

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and be like, "Well, Pastor Justin ruined my life because he told me this and I never looked

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at it for myself."

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Promise you when you get there, I'm going to have to answer for me.

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You can't blame me for it.

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You can blame me now, but when you get there, that's not going to work for you.

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We rely too much on other people to distribute God's Word to us when it is available to us.

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It was secondhand information.

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Now I'm not saying Pastor Kevin can't be trusted.

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We are responsible as leaders and teachers to discern the Word of God, to pray for wisdom,

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to ask for God to use us.

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I'm a nervous wreck back here about 30 seconds before I come out here.

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Why?

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Because I'm responsible to declare the Word of God in a right way because I do know there

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are some of you that will never go look at it for yourself.

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I'm going to tell you something and it's going to become gospel in your life and that scares

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me because I'm responsible for handling the Word of God.

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When Eve was operating on secondhand information, the serpent questioned if God really said

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it, she didn't know because she didn't hear him say it.

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This caused doubt to creep in and temptation to become God's soon followed with a, "Well,

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Yahweh can't be trusted then.

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Maybe he's holding out on me."

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Do we really know what God says or are we completely reliant on our pastors and leaders?

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The second thing that's still playing out in the church, the second thing that still,

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I told you that was going to happen, look.

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The second thing that happened is we make the story all about us.

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We take what happened in Genesis and from here we follow this story arc that the Bible

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is all about our redemption.

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That because of the fall of man, now everything that happens is about me being reconciled

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to God.

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That is a plot line but newsflash, it's not all about us.

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We are often ancillary characters and not the main point.

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You know how I know that?

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John 1 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word.

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The Word was with God, the Word was God.

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Then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory."

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Everything was made by Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus.

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And if John 1 tells me that, then that means he's the main point.

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And my redemption is a story line in the story of Jesus.

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The story is God.

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And part of that story includes our redemption but what we fail to do is we see the fall,

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we see the rebellion, and then we make everything about us getting back to God.

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And that's not necessarily the focus.

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And that happened at the very beginning.

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So we continue to follow this thread through the church, throughout the Old Testament,

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from the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and to Exodus and the creation of the

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nation of Israel.

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And then we see that the people of God were eventually exiled from their lands and from

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the temple where they brought atoning sacrifices was destroyed.

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God promises to restore his people after their exile to Babylon in Jeremiah 25, 11 through

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12.

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And then he sends Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and eventually the second temple.

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And the Old Testament ends with another promise in Malachi, one who would come to redeem them.

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Malachi chapter three verse one says, "Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me."

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God gives a promise and the people have to wait for 400 years.

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400 years.

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400 years.

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It's like waiting 30 minutes at the grocery store 'cause I picked the wrong line.

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'Cause I didn't wanna do self-check.

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Abraham couldn't wait a decade on God's promise.

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And the people of God are waiting for 400 years for this promised one who would deliver

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them.

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So it's no wonder that some people didn't recognize him when he came and others did.

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Why did the ones recognize him when he came?

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Because they had been telling their children and their children and their children's children.

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It's been passed down generation to generation to generation.

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Pastor Ronnie just shared about a heritage that was passed down.

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And guess what that heritage has been passed down to who?

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His children.

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And I watched his grandchildren come and bring their dollar for those in need.

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And they will teach to their children and their children so that 400 years from now,

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they'll be carrying down principles that was taught to them by someone they never know.

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There was an expectation that you tell about this promise, that you hold on to this promise.

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I don't care how long it takes.

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Are you still holding on to what God, are you stewarding the promise that God has given

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you?

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Not your specific, hey, this is what I got for you in your life.

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A promise that he is going to make all things right.

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Because if it's not all about me, then not every promise is for me.

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But what are the promises that God has given you?

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And are you stewarding them, church?

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Four hundred years they waited.

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And then we get to Jesus.

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We often look at the book of Acts and we look at the expansion and the growth and the power

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of the Holy Spirit.

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We look at the missionary journeys and we think that's the church.

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That's when the church, that's how I used to look at the book of Acts.

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This is where the church was.

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No, no, no.

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The church begins and ends with Jesus Christ.

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It begins and ends with Jesus Christ.

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When Jesus comes on the scene, that's when the church actually begins.

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The origin story of the church is found in the New Testament, primarily in the gospels.

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So, to help us better understand what Jesus is about to do, I want to take a minute and

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talk about the difference between the church, the church, and the church.

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Okay?

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So we're going to talk about the church, the church, and the church.

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Okay.

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The first one, you are the church.

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That's us.

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So when I say the church, could be you.

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You are the church.

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We are the body of Christ.

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We are the church, the temple where the Holy Spirit resides in us.

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We are the church.

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That's the first one.

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The second one, Springhouse.

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00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,840
This is our local church.

246
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,420
There are other local churches here.

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There's a church right across the street.

248
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Don't even know the name.

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Forgot it just now.

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00:15:43,900 --> 00:15:48,100
I feel terrible because they're part of the big church.

251
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Okay?

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00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:50,100
God forgive me.

253
00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:51,100
Cornerstone.

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00:15:51,100 --> 00:15:58,960
That's a great name being on the corner right there, right?

255
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,640
Why are we Cornerstone Non-denominational Church, right?

256
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,260
Are they a Baptist church?

257
00:16:05,260 --> 00:16:06,260
They are.

258
00:16:06,260 --> 00:16:13,480
Look, I told you all from there, this is real life.

259
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This is the local church.

260
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Okay?

261
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:17,680
So this is our local church.

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00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,200
I call this Little C. Little C.

263
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We are the Little C church.

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So you're the church.

265
00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:26,840
Springhouse is the Little C church.

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Then you have the Big C church.

267
00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:30,300
Okay?

268
00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:36,760
All of the churches that are operating as an example of the kingdom of God here on earth.

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00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:37,760
Okay?

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With a collective mission.

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The church is supposed to have a collective mission and all of us Little C churches carry

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00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,920
out that mission and all of the individual churches work the mission of the little church.

273
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,920
Does everybody know the difference between the church, the church and the church?

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We got that out of the way.

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So when I say church, I'll say Little C, Big C or you.

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Okay?

277
00:17:01,140 --> 00:17:06,080
So when Jesus arrives on the scene, he's implementing a new system.

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This is one where all believers, Jew and Gentile can have access to Yahweh.

279
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And he would ultimately accomplish this on the cross when he reclaimed the authority.

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Look at what he says in Matthew chapter four, verse 17.

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From that time, this is after his baptism.

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From that time, Jesus began to preach saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

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In other words, he said, "Hey, right now."

284
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It starts right now.

285
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The church is beginning right now.

286
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I have been baptized.

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My mission is started.

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I'm preaching.

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The kingdom is now.

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It's right now.

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00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:54,060
Then two verses later, he calls his first disciples.

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And here he reveals to them the purpose for which he's calling disciples.

293
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He said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

294
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,420
Now it's important to note they were actually fishing for fish.

295
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:13,980
And when Jesus calls him says, "If you come with me, you're gonna be fishing for people."

296
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We got that, right?

297
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,300
But here's the problem I think that we have nowadays.

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We think that only the important jobs and roles are those that are within the church.

299
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And we look up to pastors and leaders and teachers and influencers now, right?

300
00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:38,980
And then we go back to our little jobs at Publix and Home Depot and the law firm of

301
00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:43,280
Smith Smith and Johnson or whatever it is you're doing and you think, "Well, here I

302
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:44,860
am in the secular world."

303
00:18:44,860 --> 00:18:48,060
Let me tell you something, there are no secular jobs, okay?

304
00:18:48,060 --> 00:18:55,340
There may be secular missions, but as kingdom people, our job is to infiltrate secular places

305
00:18:55,340 --> 00:18:56,900
and bring the light to them.

306
00:18:56,900 --> 00:18:57,900
Why?

307
00:18:57,900 --> 00:18:58,900
'Cause you're the church.

308
00:18:59,900 --> 00:19:05,260
And Jesus was saying, "Hey, I'm gonna change your focus here.

309
00:19:05,260 --> 00:19:07,620
You're not gonna be so focused on doing the work.

310
00:19:07,620 --> 00:19:13,480
Your focus is gonna be on people and your work will become a part of that."

311
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,960
Then in Matthew 5 through 7, he gives them expectations.

312
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,820
He gives them a modus operandi, a mode of operation.

313
00:19:22,820 --> 00:19:25,000
He spends time with his disciples.

314
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,780
He taught them about the kingdom.

315
00:19:26,780 --> 00:19:29,080
He casted out demonic spirits.

316
00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:35,980
He performed miracles and he revealed his nature to them as well as the nature of the

317
00:19:35,980 --> 00:19:37,160
father.

318
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,680
So he declares, "Hey, something new is happening right now.

319
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,100
I know you're actually fishing to provide for your family, but things are about to change

320
00:19:46,100 --> 00:19:47,660
for you guys.

321
00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:52,060
And I'm gonna show you what this is gonna look like on a day-to-day basis."

322
00:19:52,060 --> 00:19:57,220
Jesus was building the church without telling everybody, "I'm building a church."

323
00:19:57,220 --> 00:20:03,180
So when I say the church begins with Jesus, it literally began with him.

324
00:20:03,180 --> 00:20:06,420
One of the most important revelations about the history of the church that Jesus gives

325
00:20:06,420 --> 00:20:10,220
us is it's Caesarea Philippi.

326
00:20:10,220 --> 00:20:13,140
If you got kids in here, I gotta kind of make this real.

327
00:20:13,140 --> 00:20:17,860
I'll keep it PG-13, but you need to understand about Caesarea Philippi.

328
00:20:17,860 --> 00:20:19,500
This is a bad place.

329
00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:21,180
It's a real bad place.

330
00:20:21,180 --> 00:20:27,180
Caesarea Philippi is at the base of Mount Hermon and Mount Hermon historically, you

331
00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:29,700
can call it Mount Hermon, but I prefer Hermon.

332
00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:32,140
It sounds a little bit affluent, right?

333
00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:34,020
Don't judge me.

334
00:20:34,020 --> 00:20:36,580
I told y'all how I read my Bible.

335
00:20:36,580 --> 00:20:38,660
I'm like, these things right here.

336
00:20:38,660 --> 00:20:46,180
Mount Hermon is off the charts with the amount of spiritual activity that is happening at

337
00:20:46,180 --> 00:20:47,780
this place.

338
00:20:47,780 --> 00:20:54,180
Historically, Caesarea Philippi is located at the base of Mount Hermon and Caesarea Philippi

339
00:20:54,180 --> 00:20:56,220
is this cave here.

340
00:20:56,220 --> 00:21:02,740
In this cave, the pagans thought was actually the gates to the underworld.

341
00:21:02,740 --> 00:21:12,740
They believed that this was a portal of some sort, a gate or access point to the underworld.

342
00:21:12,740 --> 00:21:19,260
And they would take and put little idols in those little cracks on the rocks.

343
00:21:19,260 --> 00:21:20,940
You can see like little shelves and stuff.

344
00:21:20,940 --> 00:21:24,260
They would take all of these idols and they would stuff them in all those rocks.

345
00:21:24,260 --> 00:21:26,360
And then it gets wilder than that.

346
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:29,380
They would take and they would sacrifice their children.

347
00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:31,940
They would do a cult and blood sacrifices.

348
00:21:31,940 --> 00:21:36,740
They would perform sexual rituals right there at the mouth or opening of the cave in order

349
00:21:36,740 --> 00:21:41,980
to entice the God Pan to come from the underworld and return into this world.

350
00:21:41,980 --> 00:21:45,400
Now you can say, you can think what you want and you can think these people are crazy,

351
00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:50,060
but historically in the Bible, you aren't sacrificing your children and putting babies

352
00:21:50,060 --> 00:21:52,860
in a fire to a God that does not exist.

353
00:21:52,860 --> 00:21:56,180
And I'm here to tell you that the Bible never says that there are no other gods.

354
00:21:56,180 --> 00:22:01,060
It says Yahweh is supreme because people aren't passing down these traditions.

355
00:22:01,060 --> 00:22:02,580
You're not cutting yourself.

356
00:22:02,580 --> 00:22:03,820
You're not offering your baby.

357
00:22:03,820 --> 00:22:08,540
You're not performing sexual rituals to a God that is not real to you.

358
00:22:08,540 --> 00:22:11,300
And these people worship these false gods.

359
00:22:11,300 --> 00:22:15,420
And when it says false gods, it doesn't mean that they're fictional or made up.

360
00:22:15,420 --> 00:22:18,040
It means that they are not supreme.

361
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,040
Are you tracking?

362
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:27,060
So these people really believed that these other gods were going to come back through

363
00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:28,060
this place.

364
00:22:28,060 --> 00:22:32,100
Now I don't know how much truth there is to that, but these people were doing some bad

365
00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:33,100
stuff.

366
00:22:33,100 --> 00:22:38,380
Right here, they were literally knocking on the gates to the doors of hell.

367
00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:39,380
Are you tracking?

368
00:22:39,380 --> 00:22:41,900
Okay, it's a bad place.

369
00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:45,280
Historically, they're doing a lot of bad stuff.

370
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,540
And Jesus takes his disciples to the red light district.

371
00:22:48,540 --> 00:22:49,540
Okay.

372
00:22:49,540 --> 00:22:54,460
I don't know what you want me to do.

373
00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:55,940
I'm trying to V.G. it.

374
00:22:55,940 --> 00:22:56,940
Okay.

375
00:22:56,940 --> 00:22:57,940
I was going to be a kid in an early gathering.

376
00:22:57,940 --> 00:22:58,940
I was like, "Ahh."

377
00:22:58,940 --> 00:23:01,940
I'm going to be explaining, "Dad, what is this?"

378
00:23:01,940 --> 00:23:04,460
See, I told you I was going to ruin somebody's life.

379
00:23:04,460 --> 00:23:07,020
Now you got to go home and do your homework.

380
00:23:07,020 --> 00:23:08,020
Okay.

381
00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:15,900
So, so Jesus takes his disciples up from Galilee to Caesarea Philippi.

382
00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:20,180
And the disciples, they all know what this place is.

383
00:23:20,180 --> 00:23:24,380
This may be foreign to us, but they know that this is downtown, back alley.

384
00:23:24,380 --> 00:23:26,020
This is not a good spot.

385
00:23:26,020 --> 00:23:27,260
We don't need to be here.

386
00:23:27,260 --> 00:23:28,820
They probably had their hands in their pockets.

387
00:23:28,820 --> 00:23:32,580
Guarantee Peter had his hand on a sword.

388
00:23:32,580 --> 00:23:33,580
Okay.

389
00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:36,760
Again, it's in the text.

390
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:37,760
Not that part.

391
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,060
Listen, see, I'm...

392
00:23:42,060 --> 00:23:44,280
Jesus takes his disciples to this place.

393
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,460
They all understand this is a pagan site of worship.

394
00:23:48,460 --> 00:23:51,420
They all understand this is pagan worship.

395
00:23:51,420 --> 00:23:52,780
These people are doing bad stuff.

396
00:23:52,780 --> 00:23:56,720
And Jesus takes his whole crew up there and this is what happens.

397
00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:03,620
They get there and it says in Matthew 16, "Now when Jesus came to the district of Caesarea

398
00:24:03,620 --> 00:24:09,340
Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'"

399
00:24:09,340 --> 00:24:12,580
Who do people say I am?

400
00:24:12,580 --> 00:24:14,160
Who do people say I am?

401
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:19,820
And they said, "Well, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah

402
00:24:19,820 --> 00:24:25,740
or one of the prophets, and he said to them, 'Who do you say that I am?'"

403
00:24:25,740 --> 00:24:29,540
What do people say about me, but what do you say about me?

404
00:24:29,540 --> 00:24:35,780
"And Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

405
00:24:35,780 --> 00:24:41,420
And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not

406
00:24:41,420 --> 00:24:44,700
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

407
00:24:44,700 --> 00:24:50,440
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates

408
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,860
of hell shall not prevail against it.'"

409
00:24:53,860 --> 00:25:00,300
This is actually where you see the origins of the papal line and Catholicism that Peter

410
00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:07,340
was the first pope because the interpretation is that Jesus was saying, "Peter is the rock

411
00:25:07,340 --> 00:25:09,100
that I'm going to build the church on."

412
00:25:09,100 --> 00:25:12,560
So that's where that originates from.

413
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,800
But that's not what Jesus is doing right here.

414
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,160
Jesus is the rock.

415
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,160
He is the rock.

416
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:31,480
And he takes them to this rocky place of pagan worship, and the Father reveals that Jesus

417
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:39,360
is the Messiah to Peter, whose name means rock, and this revelation becomes the foundation

418
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:44,140
or cornerstone of faith for the church.

419
00:25:44,140 --> 00:25:50,220
It's like meaning inside of meaning inside of meaning inside of meaning.

420
00:25:50,220 --> 00:25:55,920
And Jesus is giving them, he's the king of giving them a visual representation of what

421
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,700
he's doing in the spirit.

422
00:25:58,700 --> 00:26:03,600
There are things that happen that we think are invisible, they're actually imperceivable.

423
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:08,820
And Jesus sees all of it, and he's trying to give them a glimpse of how the kingdom

424
00:26:08,820 --> 00:26:11,560
is about to work.

425
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:19,280
This foundation that Jesus is the Messiah is the cornerstone of our faith in the church.

426
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,960
This is where it all begins.

427
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:27,340
We can disagree on a million different things, but we can never disagree on Jesus' death,

428
00:26:27,340 --> 00:26:29,140
burial and resurrection.

429
00:26:29,140 --> 00:26:32,820
It's all we got that ties us together.

430
00:26:32,820 --> 00:26:37,780
I don't care if you think clapping your hands is good or singing this way is great or if

431
00:26:37,780 --> 00:26:42,400
we structure our service like this, if we have a pope, if we don't have a pope, the

432
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,400
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the faith of the Christian

433
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,440
church.

434
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:55,200
That's the one thing that brings us all together, that unites us all.

435
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,220
And one of my most favorite verses in the entire Bible, and this is free, this is not

436
00:26:59,220 --> 00:27:00,560
in the notes.

437
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:10,040
Jesus, speaking of himself, says, "If any man falls on this rock, he will be broken.

438
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:15,820
But if this rock falls on any man, he will be crushed."

439
00:27:15,820 --> 00:27:21,500
When you take your life and you fall on Jesus, you will be broken in a beautiful way that

440
00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:24,380
allows him to put the pieces back together.

441
00:27:24,380 --> 00:27:29,500
But if you hold out in your stubbornness and pride and the rock has to fall on you, it

442
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:31,320
will crush you.

443
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:36,140
I pray I never get to the place where I stop falling on Jesus, where I stop becoming broken

444
00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:37,560
on him.

445
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,060
And I get so arrogant in my walk and I've got this, this is my bus stop, God, I know

446
00:27:42,060 --> 00:27:43,460
where I'm at.

447
00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:46,420
I've done this for five years, ten years.

448
00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:51,060
I read the whole Bible one time.

449
00:27:51,060 --> 00:27:54,500
Why do I gotta do it again?

450
00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:56,560
The rock falls on you, you'll be crushed.

451
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,060
But if you fall on the rock, you'll be broken.

452
00:27:58,060 --> 00:27:59,660
There's a big difference.

453
00:27:59,660 --> 00:28:03,260
It's hard to put dust pieces back together.

454
00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:07,660
God's capable of doing it, but I'd much rather take three or four and have him glue them

455
00:28:07,660 --> 00:28:11,740
back together.

456
00:28:11,740 --> 00:28:12,860
Now watch this.

457
00:28:12,860 --> 00:28:14,000
Now watch this.

458
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:20,780
He said, "On this rock, this revelation that I'm the Christ, I'll build my church and the

459
00:28:20,780 --> 00:28:23,180
gates of hell will not prevail against it."

460
00:28:23,180 --> 00:28:24,180
Right?

461
00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:27,860
For so long, I was reading this and I was like, hell's not gonna be able to come against

462
00:28:27,860 --> 00:28:28,860
us.

463
00:28:28,860 --> 00:28:30,740
That's not what he's saying.

464
00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:34,340
What do gates do?

465
00:28:34,340 --> 00:28:37,780
What do you, like if you, all right, James, you put up a real gate around your house.

466
00:28:37,780 --> 00:28:38,780
What are you trying to do?

467
00:28:38,780 --> 00:28:42,500
You're not trying to keep the Jansen boys inside, right?

468
00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:44,500
They're wild.

469
00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:48,080
I'm telling you.

470
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:50,460
That might be a dual purpose gate right there.

471
00:28:50,460 --> 00:28:51,460
Look.

472
00:28:51,460 --> 00:28:53,180
No, but it does.

473
00:28:53,180 --> 00:28:54,180
No.

474
00:28:54,180 --> 00:28:55,180
Okay.

475
00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:56,180
All right.

476
00:28:56,180 --> 00:29:01,060
So the boundaries or boundaries that God puts in our life are a bad thing, right?

477
00:29:01,060 --> 00:29:06,420
When God, we look at things that are a boundary and we think God just saying, no, no, no.

478
00:29:06,420 --> 00:29:09,660
Boundaries help us play the game the right way.

479
00:29:09,660 --> 00:29:11,020
I was watching basketball last night.

480
00:29:11,020 --> 00:29:14,880
Imagine they're up in the stands, just keep running around with the ball.

481
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,580
It's not a fair way to play the game, is it?

482
00:29:17,580 --> 00:29:19,560
Can't just do whatever you want.

483
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:24,420
Boundaries are in our life for a reason so that we play within the parameters of the

484
00:29:24,420 --> 00:29:25,420
game.

485
00:29:25,420 --> 00:29:29,500
And what the gates are designed to do, keep things out.

486
00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:33,040
And he says the gates of hell are not going to prevail against my church.

487
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:39,420
What he basically did was took the disciples to the gates of hell and said, hey, we're

488
00:29:39,420 --> 00:29:41,460
not sitting back on our laurels.

489
00:29:41,460 --> 00:29:46,020
We are about to attack and storm the gates of hell.

490
00:29:46,020 --> 00:29:51,100
He took his disciples to the place they call the gates of hell and said, this is the church

491
00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:55,060
and we are going to take and storm the kingdom of darkness.

492
00:29:55,060 --> 00:29:58,100
But we're not going to do it the way you think we're going to do it.

493
00:29:58,100 --> 00:30:02,380
They were looking for a king that was going to come and ride in and destroy and mount.

494
00:30:02,380 --> 00:30:06,060
And when he comes back, he's coming that way.

495
00:30:06,060 --> 00:30:07,480
But not this time.

496
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,580
He said, we're going into attack mode.

497
00:30:11,580 --> 00:30:15,060
And the disciples are probably sitting there like me most of them go, how are we going

498
00:30:15,060 --> 00:30:18,780
to do that?

499
00:30:18,780 --> 00:30:20,780
And with what power?

500
00:30:20,780 --> 00:30:24,780
How are we going to destroy the kingdom of darkness?

501
00:30:24,780 --> 00:30:25,780
And with what power?

502
00:30:25,780 --> 00:30:28,380
Quickly, I'm going to show you.

503
00:30:28,380 --> 00:30:33,220
I'm going to give us two verses or passages that show us how Jesus wanted to do this.

504
00:30:33,220 --> 00:30:35,460
He said, this is where I'm going to build my church.

505
00:30:35,460 --> 00:30:40,260
This is how we're going to operate.

506
00:30:40,260 --> 00:30:41,780
Here's the first.

507
00:30:41,780 --> 00:30:49,660
Jesus came to them and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

508
00:30:49,660 --> 00:30:55,900
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and

509
00:30:55,900 --> 00:31:00,540
of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.

510
00:31:00,540 --> 00:31:04,300
And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

511
00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:09,200
Now you can say Jesus is actually not talking to all believers here.

512
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,140
He's talking to his disciples.

513
00:31:11,140 --> 00:31:15,920
He told his disciples to go make disciples.

514
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,140
Not all believers to go make disciples.

515
00:31:18,140 --> 00:31:19,980
But here's the problem with that.

516
00:31:19,980 --> 00:31:24,980
Being a believer is not a cop out to say that this is not for you.

517
00:31:24,980 --> 00:31:30,540
The difference between believers and disciples is the difference between proximity to Jesus

518
00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:33,980
and intimacy with Jesus.

519
00:31:33,980 --> 00:31:34,980
There's a big difference.

520
00:31:34,980 --> 00:31:36,660
You can be around somebody.

521
00:31:36,660 --> 00:31:38,300
I don't know Michael Jordan.

522
00:31:38,300 --> 00:31:40,060
I know about him.

523
00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:43,620
I don't want that to be said of my relationship with the Lord.

524
00:31:43,620 --> 00:31:47,220
I spent all my whole life learning things about God.

525
00:31:47,220 --> 00:31:59,300
I came to church and they told me things about him and I never knew him.

526
00:31:59,300 --> 00:32:02,420
Disciples making disciples.

527
00:32:02,420 --> 00:32:07,900
The great commission was given to disciples and the call is to become disciples.

528
00:32:07,900 --> 00:32:12,300
This is the mission of the big C church.

529
00:32:12,300 --> 00:32:16,740
To make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

530
00:32:16,740 --> 00:32:21,140
How we walk that out is done in the little C.

531
00:32:21,140 --> 00:32:25,260
Part of the way that we make disciples is our programming here.

532
00:32:25,260 --> 00:32:26,900
The things that we do here.

533
00:32:26,900 --> 00:32:28,220
That's our programming.

534
00:32:28,220 --> 00:32:33,200
That's how we are making disciples that fit within the context of the big C church.

535
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:35,260
We have a thriving theater ministry.

536
00:32:35,260 --> 00:32:40,980
Libby got baptized two weeks ago and we've been praying over her family ever since.

537
00:32:40,980 --> 00:32:42,980
Raising money to support them.

538
00:32:42,980 --> 00:32:45,020
That is disciples making disciples.

539
00:32:45,020 --> 00:32:50,140
Do you think that the impact that the local church has had on her is going to transcend

540
00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:54,720
all of the grief and hurt and struggle that they're going through in their life?

541
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,740
What did what did Elsie and Gary say up here?

542
00:32:57,740 --> 00:33:06,860
She said, I have never been so convicted in my life as I have at Springhouse.

543
00:33:06,860 --> 00:33:11,540
And I thought, which Sunday have I been up since they...

544
00:33:11,540 --> 00:33:16,220
I'm trying to figure out if it's me or you, right?

545
00:33:16,220 --> 00:33:18,000
You know what they said without saying it?

546
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,820
I have allowed the Lord to do whatever he wants to do in my life.

547
00:33:22,820 --> 00:33:30,740
I showed up and God, there was some Sundays that cut me to death and I responded to it.

548
00:33:30,740 --> 00:33:32,980
That's discipleship.

549
00:33:32,980 --> 00:33:36,860
We're not just going to get people saved and send them back out in the world.

550
00:33:36,860 --> 00:33:42,340
Can we baptize and we dedicate your babies here or we have a Thursday night midweek gathering

551
00:33:42,340 --> 00:33:47,540
or Pastor Kevin's praying for this series a year before it happens.

552
00:33:47,540 --> 00:33:48,540
Why?

553
00:33:48,540 --> 00:33:53,260
So that the people of God can be equipped to go be the little sea church out there and

554
00:33:53,260 --> 00:33:56,300
bring people into the big sea mission.

555
00:33:56,300 --> 00:34:02,420
It's not just all just what do we want to do this Sunday?

556
00:34:02,420 --> 00:34:07,420
It's been bathed in prayer and led by the Holy Ghost.

557
00:34:07,420 --> 00:34:11,320
Why because it's a part of the mission that Jesus laid out.

558
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,940
This is where the church began.

559
00:34:13,940 --> 00:34:17,140
This is how it began.

560
00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:19,280
Equipping guys like me to do the Word.

561
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,560
Equipping guys like you to do the Word.

562
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:27,500
And then also how we're going to do it is Acts 1.8.

563
00:34:27,500 --> 00:34:37,240
You will receive power, you will receive power, dynamic ability when the Holy Spirit has come

564
00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:44,700
upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end

565
00:34:44,700 --> 00:34:45,700
of the earth.

566
00:34:45,700 --> 00:34:50,360
Now he did not say you're going to go do witnessing in all those places.

567
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:56,000
He said the Holy Spirit will actually transform you to become the witness so that wherever

568
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,960
you go, there you are.

569
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:05,540
Wherever you go, he's already transformed you and he's refining you and sharpening you

570
00:35:05,540 --> 00:35:11,340
on this progressive walk called discipleship so that when you do get to Judea, Samaria

571
00:35:11,340 --> 00:35:14,980
and the ends of the earth, you are equipped to do what?

572
00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:19,240
All the things that Jesus did when he was here.

573
00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:23,560
We make it so stinking difficult sometimes.

574
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:28,000
Well I say we, I mean me and maybe y'all.

575
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,780
We make it so stinking difficult.

576
00:35:30,780 --> 00:35:35,020
We act like there's so much on our shoulders that we gotta do it all.

577
00:35:35,020 --> 00:35:40,020
When Jesus has already done it all and then provided us a way to do it and all we gotta

578
00:35:40,020 --> 00:35:43,860
do is show up and walk out our park.

579
00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:48,000
We gave away our authority in the garden.

580
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,020
Even Adam gave it away and Jesus said, "That's fine, I'll go get it back."

581
00:35:52,020 --> 00:35:58,140
He did and then the whole rest of the time we see the promises.

582
00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:02,500
We see him moving and he goes and he gets the authority back and what did it say in

583
00:36:02,500 --> 00:36:03,500
the other verse?

584
00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:12,360
All authority, all of it, every bit of it in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

585
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,400
And here's what I'm gonna do, give it back to you.

586
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:17,600
You're not getting out of this.

587
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,960
You're going to finish what I started but this time I'm not only giving you your authority

588
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:31,300
back, I'm gonna send my spirit to transform you into what you need to be.

589
00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:35,000
You're not just getting a mandate and a hall pass to go do it.

590
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:42,040
I'm giving you the power to walk it out, to be the little seed.

591
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:48,260
We're the church operating under our little mission which is a part of the big C mission

592
00:36:48,260 --> 00:36:51,560
to make disciples of all nations.

593
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,040
That's one of the greatest acts of spiritual warfare.

594
00:36:54,040 --> 00:37:00,180
We've got this some idea of what spiritual warfare is and what it actually is is baptizing

595
00:37:00,180 --> 00:37:04,000
Elsie and Jerry and they have committed their life to Jesus.

596
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,600
They're plugged into the local church gaining discipleship and they are carrying that out

597
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:13,120
into their community to tell others about the joy and peace that they have found in

598
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,500
Jesus Christ again.

599
00:37:15,500 --> 00:37:17,240
That's it, that's the church.

600
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:22,960
Go home, we're done for the rest of the year.

601
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:27,040
You know why we're not?

602
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,040
Because that's not all there is.

603
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:35,060
Jesus foretold in John 14, 26 the Holy Spirit would help us and bring to memory everything

604
00:37:35,060 --> 00:37:36,060
he said.

605
00:37:36,060 --> 00:37:40,440
Worship team, you can come out, we're gonna get ready to worship.

606
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:44,400
The history of the church is so very important.

607
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:50,260
In order to know where we're going, we gotta know where we've been as a people.

608
00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:54,920
You realize that you are a part of the biblical story?

609
00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:00,140
Your name may not be in here, but you are included in things like and the whosoever

610
00:38:00,140 --> 00:38:03,840
believes in him, right?

611
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,400
He's got promises that are open-ended that transcend to us.

612
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,540
You're included in this story.

613
00:38:09,540 --> 00:38:10,540
Why?

614
00:38:10,540 --> 00:38:14,640
Because there were disciples that were made that kept making them and kept making them

615
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,760
and somewhere along the line you showed up to a local church.

616
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,320
Well you ran into James, well you ran into Dana and she started walking with your daughter

617
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:27,380
and discipling them and then the daughter gets baptized and she started doing.

618
00:38:27,380 --> 00:38:28,980
It's not stopped.

619
00:38:28,980 --> 00:38:33,140
If they kept bringing jars, would the oil still be flowing?

620
00:38:33,140 --> 00:38:36,020
If they kept bringing jars, are you hearing me?

621
00:38:36,020 --> 00:38:39,240
It's an interactive thing.

622
00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:44,280
The history of a thing can help us understand what it was designed to do regardless of model

623
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,100
changes or adaptations.

624
00:38:46,100 --> 00:38:51,600
Do you know there's probably a big difference between a model T Ford and a Tesla, right?

625
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,380
They were both designed to do the same thing.

626
00:38:54,380 --> 00:39:00,160
And so although things have adapted and changed over the years, the history and the original

627
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:04,160
purpose of a thing tells us what it's supposed to mean now.

628
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,200
And we've gotten so far away from it.

629
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:11,480
It's become a spectacle at times.

630
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:16,640
It's become a thing we do to check a box.

631
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:21,820
But if I'm the church and you're the church and we're all coming here into this little

632
00:39:21,820 --> 00:39:29,240
bitty church to grow together, to accomplish that mission of the big C, do I have to understand

633
00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:35,280
that Jesus has given me the authority to do it and the power to walk it out?

634
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:41,700
Jesus created the church to proclaim his kingdom here on earth and to create disciples.

635
00:39:41,700 --> 00:39:48,360
We are to face evil and injustice head on, to walk in his authority as image bearers

636
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:55,620
whose lives bring glory to his name through the power of the Holy Ghost.

637
00:39:55,620 --> 00:40:00,640
So let's worship the King Church.

638
00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:10,640
[BLANK_AUDIO]