The Gospel: Our Ministry

Sermon Summary:

In this powerful exploration of Mark 1, we’re reminded of Jesus’ unique authority and compassion. As we journey through the early days of Christ’s ministry, we witness His amazing teaching, His power over spiritual forces, and His tender care for individuals. The people’s astonishment at Jesus’ words and deeds challenges us to rediscover our own sense of awe at His work in our lives. Just as Jesus touched and cleansed a leper, restoring him to community, we’re called to be agents of healing and restoration in our broken world. This passage invites us to reflect on how we can embody Christ’s compassion and authority in our daily lives, bringing hope and transformation to those around us.

Watch The Service Here

Sermon Points:

• THE MESSIANIC MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST: Jesus made His way across the region of Galilee establishing His unique authority, demonstrating His unparalleled power, proclaiming His revelatory message, and displaying His tender compassion.
• Mark 1:21-28: Amazing Authority
• Mark 1:29-31: Personal Compassion
• Mark 1:32-34: Healing Power
• Mark 1:35-39: Prayer, Preaching, and Authority
• Mark 1:40-45: Compassion and Power
• THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST’S CHURCH: We now are the emissaries of the Kingdom of God. We have been called to engage in ministries that bring healing, hope, grace, forgiveness, love, care, compassion, and restoration to this broken world!

Download a copy of the “Together in the Gospel” Devotional Book – HERE

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus demonstrated His authority through teaching and miraculous acts
• The early disciples and crowds were amazed by Jesus’ words and deeds
• Jesus prioritized prayer and spreading the gospel message
• The church is called to continue Jesus’ ministry of healing, restoration, and compassion
• Believers must resist the temptation to reshape Jesus according to cultural preferences
• The church’s unity and devotion to God’s mission can be a powerful witness to the world

Watch other Sermons Here

Scripture References:

• Mark 1:21-45

Stories:

• Jesus teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum
• Healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law
• Jesus withdrawing to pray and deciding to preach in other villages
• Healing of the man with leprosy
• The pastor’s visit to Capernaum and seeing the ruins of the ancient synagogue

Transcript

It’s good to be here this morning on this final Sunday in June. As you know, if you’re part of our church, you know that if you’ve been here for a while, you know that I take the month of July out of the pulpit every year to spend some time studying and praying and get us ready for this next year. So next Sunday morning, Ryan Chandler will be preaching. Ryan is our young adult minister, and he’ll be leading us that day. We’ll be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. So those of you that are online, I just want to let you know that for next Sunday. And then the next Sunday, Katie Reed Hodges will be preaching. Katie is our minister of congregational life, and she’ll preach that Sunday. Then Luke Steyer. Luke, of course, heads up our local engagement. And then the final Sunday in July, Sergio Ramos will be our preacher for that day. Sergio and Dora are a little newer to our church. Sergio is on staff at Buckner. And he is the… He’s the president of the Hispanic Baptist Convencion here in Texas, one of our fine Texas Baptist leaders. And then when I get back, I’ve already given the staff kind of an overall plan, if you will, just some ideas for the next three years. But I’ll be fleshing a good bit of that out while I’m away in July. But when I get back, we’ll be studying in August the book of Ephesians together. And, you know, I just went to an intensive study of Ephesians. Dr. N.T. Wright led us. And, you know, I just went to an intensive study of Ephesians. And I guess he did not know that I’m going to be teaching Ephesians in August because he didn’t even ask me one question about the book the whole four days. So it was kind of fascinating. Anyway, and then in the fall, we are going to be gathered around the theme of Together for the Future. And we’ll look at the book of Nehemiah to guide us. And then for Missions Month in November, we’re going to use the book of Acts. And I hope you’ve gotten a copy. I hope you’ve gotten a copy of this global engagement newsletter that Ashley and her team have put together. They’re available in all of our Welcome Center areas today. I’d encourage you to get one. It’ll help you understand what’s happening in our global work and also how you might pray for what’s taking place. And then Advent, we will use the book of Isaiah together in light. And then, as I said, we’ve got a three-year journey ahead of us from when I get back or when we start over in January. So looking forward to the future God has for us. So with that said, our theme for this year is together. And if you’ve been here at all, you know that. And we’ve been learning various aspects about what it means to be together during 2024 and for the month, I mean, for the summer, together in the gospel has been our theme. And we’re using the gospel of Mark to guide us. And so I hope you’ve been using your devotional guides for the summer. You’ll notice there’s a narrative reading for you, you listed there that will help you to read through the entire gospel of Mark during the summer. But then we have a focal passage every week. We’d love for you to pay attention to and dive a little more deeply into as we are together in word as a church and then suggestions about what it means to be together indeed that our staff has provided for us. So with that said, today, we’re looking at Mark 1. I’ve entitled the message, The Good News, Our Ministry. So if you have your copy of the text, let’s look at it. You know, last Sunday night, in our podcast, Katie asked me, are we ever going to finish Mark 1? So if y’all see Katie today, you can tell her, today, we’re finishing Mark 1, okay? And we’re going to do that. I’m not going to read all of it per se. We’re just going to pull out just a section. I’m going to ask you to keep your Bibles open today, though, because we’re going to go back and refer to various things in Mark 1. But here’s what’s happened. Jesus now is moving to Capernaum. And that’s going to be his home base for his adult ministry. And Mark lets us know that when we get to verse 21 of Mark. And then he’s going to share several stories about what happened in Capernaum and then beyond Capernaum on into the greater region of Galilee. So I want to interrupt that story, if we will, and just read a few verses from this text, and we’ll walk through it here in just a minute. So if you have your Bibles, look with me at Mark 1. We’re going to begin in verse 35 and just read. This small section, I’ll invite you to stand with me as we honor the Lord Jesus in the reading of the gospel.

Where Mark 1.35 reads, Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him. And when they found him, they exclaimed, Everyone’s looking for you. Jesus replied, Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That’s why I’ve come. So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues, and driving out demons. Thank you. You can be seated. So what’s happening in Mark 1? Mark is presenting the messianic ministry of Jesus. Now, how does Mark tell that story? Let me just encapsulate it for you, if I may. Jesus made his way across the region of Galilee, establishing his unique authority, demonstrating his unparalleled power, proclaiming his revelatory message, and displaying his tender compassion. That, to me, summarizes the first page of Mark. So Mark describes all of that in this text. Now, if you think about the messianic ministry of Jesus, he has gathered some followers, disciples, and they are going to be a part of the journey. In fact, as we read the Gospels, these men and women will figure quite prominently in the gospel. In the life of Jesus, in the story of Jesus. However, this is his story, and he’s the one that must do this himself. He’s the Messiah. He is the one who’s inaugurating the age to come. He’s the one who has announced the kingdom of God. The message is his. At this point in history, it is by him, it is from him, and it is for him, and it is through him. So Jesus said, the time has come. The kingdom of God is now. The kingdom of God is now near. Repent and believe the good news. So by the time we get to verse 21, Jesus has already been anointed by the Spirit. He’s been blessed by the Father. He’s been prophesied by the Scripture. He’s empowered. He’s equipped for this most pivotal moment of moments. But he himself is going to bear the burden of providing what I would call the holistic expression of who he is. He’s the Messiah. And what he came to do, which is to save the world, and reconcile all of us to the Father. So with that said, let’s just walk through the rest of Mark 1, starting in verse 21. Pick up from where we left off last Sunday. Mark does it in rapid fire. So let’s just look at these various texts, okay? The first one, verses 21 through 28, I would call it amazing authority. Jesus is in Capernaum. If you look at chapter 2, if you still have your Bibles open, just flip over to Mark 2, verse 1. Here’s what we know about Capernaum. It says, Mark says, a few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So this is now the home of Jesus, okay? So the adult Jesus lives in Capernaum. He made it his home. He’s moved from Nazareth. He’s been to the wilderness. He’s been baptized. He’s been tempted by Satan. And now he has settled in Capernaum. Capernaum was a lakeside settlement in the first century. Not really. I’m not really sure how large it was, but it was large enough. We know there was a Roman cohort of soldiers there because we learn about Jairus, who was a Roman centurion who lived there. There was a customs post. In other words, there was a place where you paid your customs or your taxes. Matthew lived in Capernaum and worked there. We know there was some type of royal connection to the rest of Israel in Capernaum because in John 4, verse 46, we’re introduced to a royal official, he’s called, who lives in Capernaum. Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Capernaum. I’ve been to Capernaum, and if you go there today, you can actually see the remnants of the ancient synagogue that was rebuilt in the early 300s. I have a photo of it. I’ll show you. This is the ruins, if you will, of the synagogue where Jesus taught. It was rebuilt in the early 300s. I have a photo of me standing at the entry to it, and those bottom stones, those foundation stones, just over there, those are the ruins. Where I’m standing, those date back to the first century. So, where I’m standing dates back to the time of Jesus. So, when you’re standing there in that synagogue, it’s a little overwhelming because, you know, this was the home of Jesus, and this is where he taught regularly in this particular synagogue, okay? So, that’s where we find him here in Mark 1. He’s in the synagogue in Capernaum. Now, what happens there? Well, what happens there is actually amazing. That’s what Mark says. Mark wrote his gospel in Greek, and in Greek, there are four different Greek words for amazing or amazed. Two of them are in this very text. For example, if you look at verse 22 of Mark 1, the NIV says the people were amazed. That’s one Greek word for amazed, ekplaso. Ekplaso means to be struck out of your senses, that you see something so incredible, you just don’t know how to respond to it. It’s beyond your ability. It’s beyond your ability to respond to it. And that particular word, Mark uses it five times in the gospel of Mark. There’s a second word, if you look at verse 27, the people all were also amazed. That’s a different word in Greek, thumbeo. Thumbeo means you can’t move. In other words, something’s happened, and you’re just stunned. And that word is only found three times in the New Testament, all in the gospel of Mark. There are two other words that Mark will use for amazed. So one of his consistent themes is when the people in Jesus’ day saw what Jesus was doing, they were just amazed. Now, why were they so amazed? Well, really, in this story, in Mark 1, it’s actually the same reason with two expressions. The first reason they’re amazed, if you look at the first part of this text, look at verse 22 of Mark 1, they were amazed at his teaching. You see, the typical rabbi, in the first century, digested the teachings of former rabbis. They just gave you a summary of what’s been taught about the law. But notice what this says. He taught as one who had authority, not like the teachers they were accustomed to. Y’all remember sometimes in the gospels, Jesus will say, you’ve heard it said, but I say unto you. And those who have ears to hear, let them hear. In other words, Jesus is teaching a revelatory message. He’s not just digesting what the rabbis have already, already taught. Okay? So they were amazed at his teaching. Secondly, there was a man in the synagogue. Look at verse 23. There was one of the members of their synagogue, evidently, or a man who was there, and he was possessed by an impure spirit. Notice verse 24. The demons say, what are you going to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Here’s what’s fascinating in Mark’s gospel. You know, the demons in Mark’s gospel always recognize Jesus.

Here’s what I tell you. That’s still true in Arlington. Arlington. All the demons recognize Jesus. They all know who he is. And it was true then. Jesus then casts the demon out of this man, and the Bible says the people were amazed again, that he had authority over the spiritual realm. So the crux of it is, they were amazed at the authority of Jesus, whether it was his teaching or his practice. So he’s teaching in a way they’ve never heard before. He’s doing things they’ve never seen. Now, let me say this as an aside. When you study ancient literature, you’re going to find that there are accounts in ancient Israel about people who evidently were able to cast out demons. They were exorcists, okay? Here’s what’s fascinating about those ancient stories. We have accounts where people are named for being able to do this, but we don’t have any narrative material to support it. When you look at the first century material, the only person that we can find where there are actual narratives about a person actually doing it is Jesus. Isn’t that fascinating? Isn’t that fascinating? So Jesus is doing it. is exerting authority that they recognize is coming from God. Second passage, look at verse 29. I would call this just personal companion, compassion rather. First miracle’s in public. Everybody’s astonished. All these people are there. They’ve never seen anything like it. They’re amazed by it, and it’s just overwhelming to them. Think about it. These are synagogue people. These are people who go to synagogue, and they’re used to being taught. They’re used to watching the rabbis do things. These aren’t novices, and they go to synagogue, and they leave, and they say, we’ve just never heard anybody talk like this, and we’ve certainly never seen anybody do what he’s doing. So, they’re amazed. Notice what happens. Look at verse 29. So, when church was over, they all went home to eat. That’s basically what Mark’s telling you, okay? Verse 29, they left the synagogue, so same day, and now they leave, and they go to the home of Simon Peter. Now, remember, we believe that Mark’s gospel is inspiring, inspired by the testimony of Simon Peter. So, Peter has told Mark about this very personal story. They get to Simon Peter’s house. Now, as an aside, if you go to Capernaum today, we actually believe we’ve discovered Simon Peter’s house. You can go to where Peter lived and where Jesus performed this miracle. They built a church over it in ancient times because so many people came to Capernaum to see the house of Simon Peter and etch their names on the wall of that little house. So, we’re pretty sure that’s Simon Peter’s home. We think that’s probably the house of Simon Peter. That’s probably where Jesus lived. So, when they get home, notice what happens. Verse 30, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. Now, in first century Israel’s view, fevers were not symptomatic of another disease. That’s not how they saw it. They saw fever as the actual disease. In other words, they called it being on fire. So, Peter’s mother-in-law is on fire. Jesus, look at the compassion of Jesus. They immediately, verse 30, Jesus, so look at verse 31. He went to where she was. She’s in her room in the bed, took her hand, helped her up. The fever left her, and she went back to getting the roast and potatoes and carrots and everything ready to serve everybody, you know, which is kind of what they were doing. Obviously, she was at home preparing the meal to feed the folks who lived there. Notice there’s no recuperation time. They don’t say, you need to go back to bed. No, she’s healed immediately, and she just goes back to work. This is a very private. Personal miracle. Nobody knew about it. It wasn’t done out in the synagogue. It was done in the home of Simon Peter, okay? Then, notice the healing power of Jesus beginning in verse 32. You see, the Jews in the first century, they had an understanding that acts of mercy, acts of compassion on the Sabbath had to take place after sundown. In other words, Sabbath needed to end, okay? So, look at verse 32. Mark lets you know the Jewish practice was in effect. Look at verse 32. That evening, after sunset, so in other words, the Sabbath is now over. We’re still on the same day. They’ve been to church, or they’ve been to synagogue, listened to Jesus, watched him perform a miracle. Everybody went home to eat. Jesus went home to eat. He healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Now, look what happens. That evening, they started bringing everybody to Jesus. Everybody who was sick, demon-possessed. In fact, Mark says, verse 33, the whole town’s gathered at the door. Now, when you… Go and look at the ancient ruins of Capernaum, you can see the foundations of the homes that go back to the first century. They were small homes that were built in compounds. So, Jesus is evidently in a compound, and everybody has overrun the compound. They brought everybody they know, everybody who’s sick, everybody who’s demon-possessed. And notice what Jesus does. Look at verse 34. He just healed many of them. He drove out the demons, but he continued to not let the demons let people know who he was. Notice, here, in other words, Mark is saying, something is afoot. Like I said, these are veteran synagogue goers. They’ve been going to synagogue their whole lives. But this day, can you imagine this day? They all went home for lunch, and what do you think they were talking about at lunch? The preacher. They were saying, could you… You ever heard anybody… Have you ever heard a sermon like that? And he cast the demons out of this guy? I’m going to go get my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law has been demon-possessed a long time. As soon as the sun goes down, we’re taking him to Jesus. Or I’m going to go get my friend who’s been ill. Or I’m going to go… I’m taking my wife who’s been sick. In other words, as soon as the sun went down, guess what happened? They all show up, and they are ready. They’re ready to hear more teaching. They’re ready to see more miracles. And Jesus accommodates them. Jesus basically continues to display his authority and his power, spiritual power and incredible authority. These folks had never seen… Anything like this, y’all. So, then what happens? Well, let’s look at this next section. Verse 35. I would call it prayer, preaching, and authority. Look at verse 35. Next morning. So, everybody’s gone back home. Gone to bed. What do you think they’re thinking about when they wake up? Guess who they all want to go see?

Jesus. It’s not business as normal, right? I mean, something is happening in our town. I want you to look at what happens. Verse 35. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left. Without telling anybody. He’s left. And notice what he did. He went off to a solitary place to pray. Simon Peter wakes up and says, hey, have you seen Jesus? Did you see Jesus? Where is Jesus? Guess what they did? The Greek text is very graphic. I want you to know the NIV translates it politely. Look at verse 36. Simon and his companions went to look. That’s not what the Greek says. The Greek says they hunted him down. They used the word for hunters. They went after him. And when they found him, they said, what are you doing? Everybody’s looking for you. Basically, they said, don’t you know? Here’s what we’re going to do today. You are, this is God’s people telling Jesus what to do.

Let’s put a little asterisk right there. We’ll return to that later in this sermon. Okay. Don’t you know? Everybody’s looking for you. Don’t you know? Jesus says, verse 38, I tell you what, we’re leaving today. What do you mean we’re leaving today? Everybody’s showing up. We’re leaving today. And we’re going to go to these nearby villages, and I’m going to preach there. That’s why I’ve come. And then Mark says, he left. He went all over Galilee preaching in their synagogues, driving out demons. In other words, he went proclaiming the good news, and he went displaying his spiritual authority. Unlike anybody else who had ever lived. He’s the Messiah. And he’s going to show that whole region who he is. So, they’re leaving Capernaum. Y’all stay with me, right? Now, we don’t know exactly sure where they went next. We just know they were outside a city. And the most interesting thing happens. I’m calling it compassion and power. Look at verse 40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, if you’re willing, you can make me clean. Now, any first century reader would read this. And be shocked for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons, lepers do not approach anybody. They just weren’t allowed to in the first century. They knew better. There were certain social norms in place. Lepers did not approach people, particularly rabbis. That’s just not what happened. But this man did. And Mark tells us this incredible story. A Jewish leper in the first century had four. Four problems. Let me share them with you. First of all, just the disease itself. Now, the word leprosy in Greek was used to describe multiple maladies of the skin. The most serious of them is what you and I would refer to today as Hansen’s disease. And that’s more often what it meant. So, a leper, a Jewish leper in the first century had four problems. One, just the disease. Second, they were isolated for fear of contaminating others. They didn’t understand everything there was to know about leprosy. They just knew it was contagious. So, they learned early on, you have to isolate and quarantine these people. They cannot live with the rest of us. So, you’re isolated for fear of contamination. Even worse, you were isolated thirdly because you were impure. You were not allowed to participate in anything. You could not worship. You were not pure enough to worship. And so, you were isolated from the community. And they treated you with the same kind of laws that surrounded a dead corpse. That was the language. So, in other words, if you were a leper, a Jewish leper in the first century, you were a walking dead person. But then finally, the fourth problem was it was incurable. There was just no hope for you. It was a life sentence. And that meant that you were in a terrible predicament for a Jew. You couldn’t go to the synagogue. You couldn’t go to the temple. You couldn’t offer up sacrifices. You couldn’t attend any of the feasts. You were exempt from all family gatherings. You could not participate in community life. You were banned for life. And there was no cure and no hope. And the only answer, they believe, was for God to heal you. That was it. So, here’s this guy. That’s his world. He has no relationships. He’s banned from the community. He can’t worship. He can’t attend the feasts. He can’t attend any festivities. He can’t go to church. He can’t participate with his family. And so, what does he do? He’s desperate. He hears about Jesus somehow. And he runs up to him. And he falls in front of him. And he doesn’t say, can you heal me? Did y’all notice that? He already believes Jesus can heal him. He didn’t ask him that. He says, if you’re willing, would you cleanse me? He’s asking more about the willingness of Jesus than he is the ability of Jesus. And I want you to notice what Jesus does. Look at verse 41. Now, you know, we have a lot of ancient Greek manuscripts. And you have a little bit of discrepancy about how to translate this. Some translations say Jesus was moved with compassion. Some say he was indignant. The point is, Jesus is addressing the brokenness of humanity face to face. And so, look at what he does. He does something you don’t ever do to a leper. What did he do? He reached out and he touched him. Now, can you imagine the disciples? Shock. Jesus, don’t touch. Come on. What are you doing? Don’t you know? Because if you touch a leper, you may get leprosy. Isn’t it interesting that when impure people were touched by Jesus, they immediately became pure? He never became impure. He was so holy. He was so godly. He was filled with so much power and authority that he would touch impure people and they would become pure. And Jesus said, I’m willing. And it’s interesting the way it’s worded in the text, be cleansed. You see, lepers were always. They were always cleansed, not healed. They were cleansed. And then Jesus said, now, go and show yourself to the priest because there was a set of regulations to restore you to the community. You had to go to the priest and the priest would do that. He said, go show yourself to the priest. So, he did. So, he’s been healed and cleansed of his disease. He’s been purified from ceremonial impurity. He’s been restored to his family, to community life, and to the faith community. In other words, all the problems that this man faced as a leper, Jesus resolved them just like that. Beautiful, powerful testimony of restoration. That’s what Jesus does, y’all. Jesus heals. He cleanses. He restores. And he takes that part of us that’s broken and he redeems it. And he puts us back into his service. Beautiful, beautiful story of the gospel. So, like I said, when y’all see Katie, we finished Mark 1. We did it. So, what’s happening in Mark 1? Well, Jesus is the Messiah. That’s what we’ve learned. He’s the Savior. He’s the Son of God. He’s fulfilled prophecy. He’s been anointed by the Spirit at his baptism. He’s been blessed by the Father. This is my Son. He pleases me. He’s celebrated the announcement of the launching of the kingdom of God. He’s inaugurated the new age, the age to come. He’s called his disciples through his preaching, through his teaching, through his healing, through his power. He has demonstrated his revelatory message. He’s expressed his absolute authority. Wow. End of page one. Now, with that said, what does that say to us today? Because we’re not in the first century. We don’t live on the first page of Mark. We’re in the 21st century. Well, let’s talk about that for just a second. Okay? The ministry of Christ’s church, that’s where we live. We’re in the 21st century. So, what are we supposed to be doing? Well, I would say this about us. We now are the emissaries of the kingdom of God. Me and you. And we’ve been called to engage in ministries just like Jesus. We’re following him. And the ministries we’re supposed to be engaged in are to bring healing and hope and grace and forgiveness and love and care and compassion and restoration to this broken world. That’s our role. So, if you want to know what are we doing, that’s what we’re doing. We’re following in the steps of Jesus. So, we’re supposed to bring this restorative power to our world. And as a matter of fact, don’t you wish this were true? Don’t you wish if people were polled across America and Americans were asked, what do you think about the church of Jesus Christ? Don’t you wish Americans would say, amazing. I mean, what do you think about the churches in your neighborhood? I’m just amazed. Don’t you wish that was the word that our world used when they think about what’s happening to us? What’s happening through us? What’s happening by us? Shouldn’t it be amazing? Yes. One of the challenges we face though, just like those early disciples. You know, when this story is written, don’t you agree the disciples were immature? They were brand new. They didn’t know really what was supposed to happen. And they’re lecturing Jesus. That’s underneath the text in Mark’s gospel. Well, guess what? The church of every generation has that temptation to lecture Jesus as to what he ought to be doing. Because churches through every generation, we’re like those early disciples. We want to give them what they want. Give the culture what it wants. You know, it’s easy to get caught up in the trappings of earthly success, cultural popularity, reimagining the gospel to fit in with the values of any given period of history. In other words, just give in to the proclivities of broken people. We have to be careful as the church. In every generation, we as members of the body of Christ, we have to be careful. We’re not guided by the prevailing proclivities, if you will, the winds of a fickle society. We don’t cater to the proclivities of a broken world. But it’s very tempting to us. We want Jesus to be popular. And we want to fit in. And so we find ourselves sometimes, just like these disciples, facing the temptation. Oh, Jesus, here’s what you need to be doing right now, I’m just telling you. I mean, if you want this thing to work, we got to give in to this. We got to give in to that. We got to mold this. The temptation is to take Jesus somehow and reshape him according to our image. And it’s a very real temptation. You know, Oscar Wilde said one time, I can resist anything but temptation. Well, that’s how we are sometimes. And I would just tell you this. You and I, as followers of Jesus, we don’t have the authority to reshape Jesus. According to our image. We don’t have the authority to reimagine the gospel, to cave in and cater to the proclivities of any generation, of any society in history. What does our world need right now? What does, we live in America. What’s America need right now? What’s the greatest need? Who’s going to answer the need in this country? What’s the greatest, and we’re about to celebrate our birthday on July the 4th. What’s our biggest need? What would you say? Well. Our political system needs to get its act together.

Let me just say this. If I thought the answer was in the political system, I’m talking about the ultimate answer. Come on. I look at it. I’ve always looked at it. And you know what I say? Lord, help us. Let’s just say it together. Lord, help us. I’m just telling you right now. If you think the answer is in some political system or some political leader, you are setting yourself up. You are setting yourself up for disappointment over and over and over, because that is not the answer.

So, I don’t know when we need to be reminded of it, but this week was a great reminder.

People have asked me, are you worried? No, I’m not worried. Frustrated, maybe. I’m not worried. You know why? Because I serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So, I’m not worried. You know? I mean, come on. Jesus is the answer. And I believe. I believe his church is the answer. You know what this world needs? You know what America needs? America needs the church to be the church. They need us. They need us to be the people of God. We’re supposed to be teaching and preaching and practicing all of this. The authority of the word of God guides us, not the proclivities of my society. What God teaches us through his word. Also, the power of the good news of the gospel. And I would say this, the magnetism. The attractiveness. The attractiveness, if you will. The beauty, the testimony of transformed, healed, grace-filled, restorative Christians. That’s what draws people to the faith. People seeing people like us who’ve been totally transformed by this gospel. Restored by the power of Christ. People who are mature disciples with a spiritual perspective. With a kingdom agenda. Not distracted by the things of this world. Humble in our spirit. Committed to both truth and love. You see? We can’t pick one of those. Some people want to be committed to truth. They don’t care about love. Some people want to be committed to love. They don’t care about truth. We just don’t have that option. We’ve got to be like Jesus. Somehow, Jesus could tell the truth in love. He could love people in truth. That’s our calling as the people of God. We’re to be unaffected by these distractions all around us. And somehow, we’re supposed to demonstrate to this world that we can do this together. So, I want to invite you to the challenge of the church in the 24th. I want to invite you to the challenge of the 21st century. I want to invite you to it. You and I, together. Let’s be the people of God. Let’s join the mission of God together. You and I. Let’s be the church of Jesus Christ. Let’s follow the leadership of the Spirit in all humility. Let’s give ourselves to His mission, His will, His way. Let’s do it together. And y’all, let’s trust Him to capture the amazement of the world. We don’t have to cater to the world for the world to be amazed. If you become just like the world, where is the amazement? We live in a broken, divided, separated world. Let’s show our world that you can actually be together on a journey following Jesus. And you can be very different people with diverse backgrounds, with all kinds of cultural tendencies, with diversity in every area of our lives. And yet, somehow, we can still be together on the Jesus way. Because here’s what I hope will happen. When people see that in this broken and fractionalized society. When they see people acting together on a mission that supersedes anything they would ever come up with on their own. When they see that, let’s leave them scratching their heads, asking this question. How do they do it? What’s their secret? How do I get in on it? And when they start asking those kinds of questions, we can show them it’s not us. We’ll point them to our secret. And our secret is our Messiah. Jesus Himself. Our Savior. And our Lord. Yeah. Let’s do that. And let’s see if this world will not be amazed. May it be so. Let’s pray together.

Father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here in a place like this in freedom. This very week, we’re going to celebrate that. And we’re grateful for it. We don’t take it for granted. We know it’s coming at a great cost. And we thank you for that. We thank you for the people that are serving right now. Across the world to preserve that blessing of freedom. And Lord, we found freedom in Jesus. And we’re so grateful. And so today, Lord, I just pray for us as the church. That you’d help us demonstrate the authority of your word. The power of the gospel. In our words. In our actions. In our practice. And that you would unite us around the mission. That you would bring people from all walks of life. Diverse in our backgrounds. Our perspectives. And that somehow we can walk past all of those. Towards something much greater. Something much more profound. Something that’s eternal. And that’s your mission for this world. And I pray, Lord, as we do that, we’ll be a shining example. We’ll be salt and light. Bringing light to other people.