To the Ends of the Earth | Acts 14:19-23

Amen. Well, hey, good morning. Morning. If you got your Bibles, go to Acts 14. Acts, chapter 14.

As we look at Acts 14, verses 19 through 23, I want to remind you of a little context on this passage here because it's going to make more sense when we look at last week in light of last week. We ended the sermon by looking at the scene in which Paul was preaching. He performed a miracle where a crippled man was healed, right? It says that Paul saw the faith of the man and told him, get up. And he sees a man get healed.

And what happens in that is the whole city is uproar because of it, right? They were a. The city followed a mythological, like, belief system, right? So they thought Paul and Barnabas are like, hey, Zeus and Hermus is with us now. They're like, the gods are here.

And Paul and Barnabas are like, hey, no, no, no. We're just mere men. We're nobody special. We're just like you. We're just here to point you to the one and true living God.

And they began to, like, sacrifice to him. Like, the entire city is like, man, this is awesome. And Paul and Barnabas are disheartened by this because they're like, no, there's only one God, one true living God. And we're just here to make. Merely proclaim his name to you.

And so the whole scene is this whole eruption of worship. And I said last week, you gotta remember that you gotta be careful that what you idolize, eventually you'll demonize it, right? Like whatever you thought was gonna give you everything you thought, and it doesn't deliver. And then all of a sudden you demonize it, right? Like, I know, like, we're like Salt Lake City got this kind of hipster vibe going on, right?

And all your favorite craft beer people, they end up, like, making good beer. They sell it off and you're like, o, sold out to the man, right? You're like, demonizing what you once idolized. Still the same product, just different owner. We idolize and then we demonize things.

What happens is Paul goes from being idolized to then demonized. This is Acts 14, verse 19 says, but the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead, right? The background on that is when they're like, man, the gods have come down, let's sacrifice to him. But no, he's not actually who we thought he is. So let's go ahead and stone him.

We'll talk about that in a second here. But I want to kind of just revisit a little bit of the idolatry piece here. Last week we closed the whole sermon talking about the idols of the heart. Alright, go ahead and write this down if you're taking notes. That idolatry always runs the same play.

We worship it. It thrills us for a moment. Then we demonize it when it fails to satisfy us. Idolatry always runs the same play. We worship it.

It thrills us for a moment. Then we demonize it when it fails to satisfy us. Right? Like, how many of you could relate to that? Like, you look at your life and you're like, man, there was something, I just thought I couldn't live without it.

Then I got it and now I hate it. Like, we do this with stuff, we do this with money, we do this with relationships, we do this with our lives. Because really what's going on is these people weren't really looking for an idol to worship. They were really looking at what Tim Keller talks about. The idols of the heart.

They wanted comfort, approval, control and power. We talked last week about how those idols of our hearts, we end up using stuff and blaming stuff. But really in our hearts, this is what we want. Alright? We talked about money.

Like, we'll demonize money, but really we'll just use it. We'll use money not because we just want to, like, have more. Actually, all of us would want more money. So let me go ahead and just be honest there. But we'll use money not just because we want more status, but we really want approval.

Right? I used the illustration last week. I said, sometimes we'll use money to flex on other people. I want to be perceived as generous. So when we go out, I'll float the bill because I want you to think more highly of me.

Right? And I said last week, if you ever want to take me out and pay for it, totally fine. I don't care what idols you have. If you got approval issues, I'll go ahead and just validate them. You can pick up the tab every time.

But these idols of our hearts are really what's going on. But then we'll say it's stuff like money, sex and work. You have to understand that the more, the more that we get deceived into thinking that it's stuff is the issue. We'll lose out. We'll miss out on really seeing that it's the idols of the heart.

Sorry. So we said last week, comfort, approval, control and power are the Real things that are going on here, but then we'll use other things to say is the real issue. Additionally, we talked about kind of the spiritual realm of what's going on around us. Like, when you read this text, it's not just that there are some false worships, but there's this whole spiritual war going on. Now.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but, man, spiritual warfare is a very real thing today. But not everything's spiritual warfare. Sometimes you just get a flat tire. Like, it's not always, like, there's like a demon and everything, but there is a very real thing that goes on today. Like when I've been trying to make sense of this, when I've been trying to make sense of what's going on in Acts chapter 14 and today, like, there's a very demonic thing that goes on that goes on then and it goes on today.

Why? Because look at what John says. Says that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, right? Like, there's a very real war for your soul that goes on. And so when we look at this attempt to kill Paul's life, it's fueled by hatred that stems from the demon.

Like, you have to understand that Paul is a bold, courageous man. He's going city to city preaching and proclaiming the gospel. And the demonic doesn't like that. I don't know of the exact parallel, Like, I've been trying to, like, wrap my mind around what would be that parallel for today? Cause we could look at countless countries.

I could look at my friends that preach. I could look at missionaries that have been killed for the faith, right? Like, that's an easy one to, like, kind of discern and be like, okay, that makes sense. But what is like kind of the spirit of the air that was in Acts 14 and today? Because you gotta understand, right, it's the same demons.

Just new days today where I would say, like, man, if there was some parallel of something that was like kind of a step further back than just what's seen, I wanna say it's probably this whole idea of outrage culture today. Like, I've been trying to parallel how do they go from the gods are here to let's stone them? And how does this play out today? Because every single one of us are caught up on this on some level. And I want to kind of like, you ever been on a cruise before?

Like, hey, we're going to take an excursion, right? Like, we're still on the cruise, but we're going to kind of go over here for a moment, then we're going to eventually come back here. I want to kind of try to make sense of this for us. Because in the age of outrage culture, right, which simply means it's a social environment where moral anger is constantly amplified, rewarded and rewarded. It's often faster than truth, wisdom and understanding could catch up.

Like this is just the spirit of the age today that we live in. And I wanna kinda unpack this to kinda pastor you and I for a moment because I feel like every time I grab my cell phone I just feel it's like it just like lurks there, right?

So here's what the Internet's done is it gives you an eye askewed access to others. We get a glimpse of about 1% of someone's life, but because of the Internet, we assume we know about 99% of everybody's hearts, motives and char. This is where your heart is just enraged all the time. See one post and it goes into a downward spiral of more rage. We live in a time where we have emotion is more important than reflection.

Think about the Internet. Strong reactions are valued more than careful thought.

If it makes you mad, it must be important, right? We have this heightened thing. This is why everybody just hops on their phones every time something hits the news cycle. And whoever seems to be the most mad and angry about it must have the most important voice. We value speed over truth, right?

Like hot takes travel faster than facts. Today, by the time context shows up, the damage is already done. Like somebody's minor mistake could be what we villainize them by. Like we've created a culture where public shame is a virtue. Calling someone out because becomes a way to signal righteousness rather than to pursue restoration and clarity.

We've magnified identity through opposition that we've created an entire culture. People bond less around shared loves and more around shared enemies. We know who we are by who we're against, which has then created a culture where there's no grace for repentance. And this is kind of the outrage culture we live in today. And it's all just here.

Paul is preaching the gospel, proclaiming Jesus. They think that the gods are with them. He's like, no, I'm just a mere man. And then when he didn't fulfill who they wanted him to be, then what did they do? They stoned him.

It's just first century outrage culture because outrage culture trains us to feel superior without becoming morally mature. It's anger untethered from love, truth and patience, right? It's loud enough to Feel righteous, yet hollow enough to change nothing. So here's Paul, just man. I'm just a mere man telling you about the good news of who Jesus is.

Oh, you're not Zeus, you're not Jeremias. You're not going to give us what we want. Then here we go. And then we're going to pick up. Instead of sacrificing to you, we're going to stone you.

Here's where I want to pastor you for a second. There's also this kind of an excursion because we're all kind of caught up in this, like, cultural time. Here's where I want you to know as you have complete freedom. You don't have to post about everything.

Like, do you feel the angst in your soul for a moment? Because you're like, I don't know.

For some of you, you're like, no, I have to. You have freedom to not post on it. Secondly, you have freedom to not engage every event that happens. Like, you don't have to become an expert on everything that hits your Instagram feed.

Three, you don't. You have freedom to not agree with every hot take. Like, this is where we've kind of created this. Like, you're either for or against, right? Like, this is where we throw out stuff like what side of history you want to be on, right?

And it creates this kind of angst of the soul.

Fourth, you don't have to feel a false guilt for sin you didn't do or contribute to. But outrage culture makes you feel like you have to, like, there for some of you, like, man, I feel bad about something. I'm like, man, like, your conscience is clear before the Lord, but yet you feel this kind of tug. This is what outrage culture does. This is what happens in Acts 14 as a whole crowd just comes.

And like, man, we don't even know why we're angry right now. We don't even know what's going on in the streets. But yet we're just in this mob mentality, going to try to stone a guy named Paul and Barnabas. Hey, just enjoy the life that God's given you and don't apologize for it. Enjoy walking with Jesus, advancing the gospel and just being a human.

Enjoy that life and make a difference in real life with the people you have direct influence over. Here's what I've realized is the people in the world that are making the biggest differences out there are the ones that are often not on the Internet boasting about it. And they're not so often yelling at Other people for not doing what they're doing. There's just a quiet humbleness in them. Because I want you to live a life that God has given you.

When it's. When you think about John 10:10, for he has come to give you life, and so that you might have it abundantly. Like, ask yourself, do you want to look back on your life and realize that the majority of life you just spent doing this?

I hate that. Like. Like, enraged all the time. Like, I just find myself too. Like, when I, like, I want to just numb out to the world, what I'll do is I'll sit on the couch and just, like, watch clickbait stuff.

That's just going to, like, enrage my soul about stupid things. And then I'm looking and who's beside me? My family. And then I'm, like, having these arguments with people that don't even know I'm in existence. You ever find that to be silly?

Like, you're arguing with somebody who lives in Kansas or somebody who lives on the other side of the world, and you're like, man, if they were here, here's what I'd say to their face. And they're like, guess what? They don't know who you are. But you know who does? The people all around you.

So I just want to give you some freedom. You don't have to get caught up in it. My friends.

Think about it this way.

19 years ago, the iPhone debuted. Some of y' all weren't even born yet. Some of y', all, like, grew up in, like, you were born, and they handed you an iPhone. But if you're, like, my age or older, you're like, man, we didn't even have cell phones as kids. Like, you had a cell phone that you kept in the closet, and you only used it for emergencies.

Now you're just born, and they're like, here you go. Birth certificate and a smartphone. But, like, that's only been 19 years of our existence, and humanity's been around for thousands of years, but yet, like, in this time. And I'm not, like, knocking the iPhone. I'm not knocking technology here.

Like, I love it. You send me a funny meme all day long. Like, slide in my DMs and skimming, like, hey, here's a cool restaurant I'm gonna take you to. Because, you know, I have approval issues. So I want to, like, impress you.

Totally fine. But 25 years ago, we didn't know stuff happened around the world until, like, 18 weeks later when it finally hit the News cycle. So, like, just be mindful that you don't have to get caught up in this and think about your own life. And what do you want to be known for? Like, I've kind of resolved a few things lately.

I told my wife this the other day. We're sitting. If you've ever been to my house, we have these two chairs. It just looks at the mountains. Our favorite spot to just think and to, like, look like we're very spiritual.

There's like 95 books there. And I'm like, okay, I've read like, half of one. But we just sat there and I said, babe, you know what? Like, I just have kind of come to this resolve. Like, outside of trying to be a great husband and a great dad, I just want my life to be marked by three things.

I was like, one, I just want to be a good preacher of the Bible. Like, I just want to give my life to preaching and proclaiming God's Word. Two, I just want to get really, really good at developing people. I want to see you become all that God has called you to be. Like, I want to call out of you the gifts that God's placed in you.

And then three, just want to be really, really good with the bow in my hand. Like, just simple life here. Two spiritual. One, not spiritual at all. Two, gonna translate into glory.

One, not so much. But that's just where I'm at. And as I think about those things, I'm just like, well, how do we get there? Like, one, it's just stepping away from the mob mentality that we just get caught up in and realizing, hey, we don't have to participate. And that's not being passive or being a coward.

It's just being smart about some things. Because how many of you have just realized you're, like, you're upset about something today that you didn't know existed 24 hours ago, just because that's what we've bought into and we don't have to. But, like, more than these things, I just think I want my life to just scratch the fringes of what guys like Paul have done. Like, you want to talk about a dude with a legacy here, look at his life. Acts 14, verse 20 said, we're going on an excursion, we're off it, we're back on the cruise ship, right?

If you made the deadline by 4pm you get to go to the next destination. Here's that next spot. Acts 14, verse 20 says, but when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city and on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. Like, I don't know if you kind of caught this, but in verse 19 it says that they stoned Paul and they dragged him out, supposing that he was dead, right? Like, everybody in the city was like, man.

Like, some of them are like, man, we did it. Others were like, I didn't know that was gonna happen. Says that they supposed he was dead. So what did they do? The mob takes Paul's body and they take him out to the outskirts of the city and leave him there.

Because they're like, man, we just killed this dude. But then we see in verse 20, but when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derby. That's perseverance and endurance, my friends. That's a man who's on mission.

That's a man that's going to say, hey, all of what I've experienced is nothing in comparison to what's to be revealed, right? That's Paul echoing himself in Romans 8:18. This is where Paul says, for I consider that sufferings, that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Paul, supposing that he was dead, rises back up and he just gets back on mission. I want a life that looks like that.

I want a life that is marked by endurance. That when persecution arises, when trials arise, I'm not crying about it in the corner, but I'm just going to the Lord and saying, God, just give me more strength to endure these things. God, give me the boldness of conviction to go and preach and proclaim even more.

Verses 21 through 23 says, when they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystria and Ticonium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Write this down. Here's four things that marked Paul's ministry in Lystria and technically you could say in Lystria and beyond.

Here's four things that Paul did right. The dude was just stoned, almost died. But yet here's what they say about him. That he preached the gospel and made disciples. He strengthened and encouraged the church.

He reminded them that trials are part of the Christian life and four raised up godly leaders to lead the church. Let's talk about these four things. It says that he preached the gospel and made disciples. So when they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned. Now, this is the whole idea of evangelism and discipleship.

It's two parts, right? Evangelism, sharing the good news of Jesus, discipleship, helping others to take their next step. It's a both. And for us here, and evangelism and discipleship go together. We're always evangelizing and we're always discipling evangelism, Just simply sharing good news of what Jesus has done for you.

This is why this year we've set out to do the 500 gospel presentations or conversations piece is because we want you to be evangelistic. I told our volunteers on our team rally, I said, hey, you've got to work hard at not sharing the gospel today. The amount of people that I run across and that get put in my life where I'm just like, hey, I'm a Christian. I follow Jesus. And the response is, tell me about it.

It's remarkable. Like, it's pretty remarkable when you get to look at somebody and say, hey, here's the answers to life. Here's where all hope is found. Here's where forgiveness is found. Here's where you could have life in the fullest.

Hey, here's how you could be forgiven of all your sin. Evangelism, discipleship, it's just helping others take their next step. It's not too complicated, but yet we've made it very complicated. It's just asking yourself and asking others, hey, what's your next step of obedience? Hey, what do you need to do to follow Jesus today?

See, discipleship can be a both. And here, this could be very formal, and it could be informal. Formal could be like, hey, I'm gonna walk you through this content. We're gonna read this book together. We're gonna do this program together.

And some of it's just informal. Just watch my life and observe. It's the whole idea that more is caught than taught, but at the same time, we need to be taught. This is why we're doing stuff this year, like equip classes, because we don't want to just tell you to go share your faith, but here's how to do it. We don't want to just tell you, here's, you need to read your Bible, but we want to show you, here's how to do it.

More than anything, we're Just trying to help you to think biblically. But for so long in churches, discipleship has just been assumed to be mere information transverse. Here's everything you need to know and believe. Good luck. But it's that and the greater goal of transformation.

Like, we want your lives to be transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus. We want you to look like him, not be him, but to look like Him. We want to help you to walk in Christlike character, right? Two pastors were having lunch. This was a long time ago.

And one said to the other, aren't we supposed to be making disciples? And the other one replied, yeah. And the other pastor said, well, why isn't anybody with us right now? Two pastors, two disciple makers, yet no disciples at the table. And so I've just tried to live my life this way.

This is why if you get a random text message and you're like, hey, we're gonna go hang out with some preachers. And you're like, wait, why? Like, I don't want to hang out with the pastor. I already hang out with you enough. It's because I'm trying to teach you how to be a disciple that makes disciples.

It's both informal and formal, right? You want to know my formal process? Tuesdays at 6:30, right here in this building. 6:30am we're just going to walk through the Book of Colossians, right? This is the men's Bible study in which I'm formally discipling guys.

But informally, like, hey, let's just do life together, all right? Guy calls me or last week, walks to me in the back in the lobby. He's like, hey, man, you got time this week? I said, depends. He said, I want to look at Bose.

And I'm like, man, I got all the time in the world, brother.

I said, meet me at my house and we'll go. And he walks, hops in my truck. And I'm like, hey, man, I'm going to be honest with you. You just better be ready to spend some money today, man, because you're probably not going to use the same bow you've been using since you were 10. Informal.

We're just doing life together. We're in the bow shop talking. I'm telling them about my life, what I'm going through, what we're doing. We hop in the truck, hey, man, what's God doing in your life? Hey, how are you growing in him?

Hey, what's the Lord teaching you right now? Right? Informal discipleship. But yet at the same time, we're Just going in the same direction. So the question is, who are you discipling?

Like, who in your life right now are you pouring into? Because this is the reality. It's like we're either making disciples or we're not. What did Paul do? Gets stoned, almost dies, Gets back in the city.

Gets back, goes into the city, then they go visit all these disciples they've made.

It's just looking at what Paul has said throughout Scripture. First Corinthians 4:16 says, I urge you, then be imitators of me. Paul tells the Corinthians in chapters 11:1, Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Philippians 3:17. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the examples you have in us.

So who are you disciplin'? Who are you sharing the gospel with? Who has God placed in your life for evangelism and discipleship? If you are a part of Church of the Valley, I don't care if this is your first day, you ain't got no other option. So just come back next week.

Like, every single one of you ought to be pouring into somebody else. One of the greatest gifts in this life is that, like, there's no other joy out there that's, like, other than somebody meeting Christ, there's no other greater joy than seeing somebody get it. Like, when I'm riding in the truck with my boy on Friday, I'm just like, man, this is awesome. Had no clue that he started applying something I told him to do weeks ago.

So they evangelized and they made disciples. They preached the gospel. Second, they strengthened and encouraged the church. Verse 22 says, Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith. If you've been around long enough, you'll know that there are times in your life where you need others faith in their prayers for you.

Like, how many of you have been through something? You're like, man, if it weren't for my brothers and sisters, I don't know if I'd be here. Like, I could think of countless times in my life where it wasn't just the prayers that I was praying, but the friends that I had around me praying for me. You got to think for a moment, these new disciples, right, like in these churches that Paul's referring to here or Luke's referring to, some of these people just met Christ and they saw the dude who led them to the Lord get, like, idolized and then stoned. You think that shook them up a little bit?

Like, you Think for a moment. These new disciples are like, I don't know if this is really good. Like, the dude that just told us about Jesus, he almost died. And he's over here saying, imitate me as I imitate Christ. If I'm one of those new disciples, I'm like, I don't know if this is worth it, brother.

It's like, John the Baptist is about to get his head cut off, and he sends to Jesus, says, hey, I just need to know if you're really the one. So here's these new disciples. Maybe a little chaotic for a second. Maybe they're like, I don't know. But it says, Paul's like, hey, I'm just gonna come through and I'm gonna strengthen you and encourage you.

Who in your life right now can you depend on? All right? This is the whole idea. Like, you got some 5pm friends, and you got some 3am friends. 5pm friends are ones that are gonna, like, conveniently help you.

But your 3am friends are your real friends that, like, if you call, it's hard because we all put do not disturb. So it's kind of like illustration. Doesn't work all that well today. But you need those 3am friends that if your phone rings at 3am they're like, where do you need me to be? I'm there.

It's when they call, and they're like, I don't really even know what to say. I don't really know what's going on right now. But I need you to encourage me.

For some of you, you are like, well, I don't have those people. All my friends are horrible. All my friends aren't nice. They're not like those kind of friends. Well, guess what?

This is what we tell our kids. Be the kind of friend that you want your other friends to be. Here's Paul says they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them in the faith. What does strengthening look like? It's the proverb where it says, iron sharpens iron.

How many of you love strength training? It ain't pleasant, but necessary. Like, I love a good strength day, and I love more than just a good strength day, a good strength coach. Because a good strength coach is gonna put more on you than you think you're capable of. Here's Paul strengthening the disciples.

Hey, this might happen to you, bro. Hey, they stoned me. Most likely, they're gonna try to kill you too. You need people that will strengthen you, that will uplift your soul, ones that will speak truth. They'll build you up, not down.

And they'll take the word of God and use it as the strengthening peace. Like, if you have friends that are only giving you good advice but not giving you scripture, not great friends, probably decent friends, but not great friends. The way we strengthen the soul of one another is to take the word of God and take scripture and be like, here's what God's word has to say about your situation. And then they stick a hand on your shoulder and say, let me pray for you. That's how we build each other up.

But also they were encouraging, they encouraged, not just through their words, but their witness. This is why I say, like, I want my life to be marked by my witness. Like, I want to be like, Paul, when somebody tries to stone me, I'm like, joke's on you, you can't kill me. So I'm going to get up the next day and go about preaching again. But also with words.

One of the simplest ways you could do this is just let the people around you be seen. Like, you and I have no clue. The weight that people walked in here with. Like, you and I have no clue what insecurities people are facing, what challenges at home they got going on, what internal struggles they have. We just have no clue.

But if every single one of us walks into this space every Sunday just thinking about all our issues, we'll miss the opportunity to see those around us. We'll miss the opportunity to strengthen each other and encourage one another. Like, how many of you walked in here? Just go ahead and be humble for a moment. How many of you walked in here today and you're like, man, I really, really hope no one thinks this or finds out this about me.

All right, so you guys are all liars. I'll just be the only honest person here. I walk in here every week, I'm like, man, I hope people don't like realize this. I hope they don't catch this because I'm self centered, thinking about myself.

Imagine what would happen if this entire space on Sunday was just filled with the most encouraging people. Like making eye contact with somebody and be like, hey man, how can I pray for you? Hey, what's going on? Hey, what do you need this week? How can I love on you today?

How can I serve you? Hey, what burden are you carrying? Like, that would be an entire countercultural shift, my friends. Like, imagine if our weeks were just filled with your phones blowing up with text messages from other people at Church of the Valley. Just like, hey man, prayed for you today.

Hey, thought about you Right. Like Chris Longley, this brother does it better than anybody else. I gotta like take like four hours to read. His text message sends me not just like a, hey, prayed for you, but a entire novel of what specifically he prayed for me. And I'm starting to wonder if he's just copying and pasting this and sending it to 87 other people or what.

But, man, wouldn't that be awesome that you walked in here or you walked into your group and the first thing out of people's mouths were like, hey, man, what can I do for you? Hey, how's life? Hey, I know this was going on a couple weeks ago. What's the update on that? Here's Paul.

They preached the gospel, they made disciples, they strengthened and encouraged the church. But third, they reminded them that trials are part of the Christian life. And saying that through many gonna say that word, many, he says, many tribulations. Not some, not a few, but many. Saying that many, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

You know, one of the gifts of the local church is that we get to suffer together. Like, we get to walk with one another through pain. Like, I've been pastoring now for some 15 plus years, and the amount of sorrow and the amount of tragedy I've had to walk through with people has been remarkable. And even in my short, like, almost 24 months now, right, March will be two years. Like, for the last 24 months, the things I've gotten to just slowly walk with some of you on, like the phone calls and the text messages I've got from the loss, from the suffering, from the sorrows that you've experienced that I've got to just help carry with you.

It is a reminder to me not just what Paul's saying, but just about the Christian life and what a gift it is that the local church gets to do this together. This is what Paul says in Galatians 6, says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. I love how it just says, bear one one another's burdens. Like, it means that we get to bear and endure with each other.

These are the things that go on all the time. And some of this stuff we know about and we don't know about, but, like, even in this past week, right, it's just been one of those weeks where it's just been enduring. So yesterday I had like one of those fake colds. Like, I was like, man, I Feel like I should be sick, but I'm not sick. I feel achy, but I'm not, like, having a fever.

I don't know what was going on. I'm just laying on the couch, and my wife and a few women of our church are just walking through a scenario in a situation with a family. And it's just this ongoing burden.

That they're like, hey, we just bear with one another. And where Paul says in verse three, in that bit in Galatians, he says, for if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. This is where you and I walk in here with a sense of pride that says, either I got this or I don't need anyone else. How's that working out for you? It's probably going awesome, isn't it?

All right, my friend Pastor Jovi says, those are the three most dangerous words. I got this.

Like, you don't have to endure your trials. You don't have to go through suffering alone. But here's where we get a little angsty on that, right? Is I don't want other people to have to deal with this. That's just pride.

When you and I are like, man, I don't need other people to endure this with me. That's just our pride coming out. I mean, you know, there are people in this church that would love nothing more than to walk with you through some stuff. There are men and women that have gone through what you're going through today. Like, here's the spoiler, right?

You ain't the first person that's had marriage issues. You're not the first person that's had sin issues. You're not the first person that's had to endure some stuff. And there are people that God brings to the body to help you walk through those things. Paul also would tell Timothy later on in second Timothy 3:12, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

So here's Paul saying, hey, through many tribulations, you must enter the kingdom of God. Here's him telling Timothy, hey, if you desire to live a godly life, you will be persecuted. Here's a disclaimer, and this one's going to sting a little bit, but hopefully not so much sting, but give you some permission for freedom. Because we live in a world where everyone exaggerates their story of pain to let themselves be the victim of all things. Now, here's the deal.

Some of you are suffering, and it's just because you're living A righteous life. Some of us are suffering because we just make unwise decisions, right? Like, if I decide to eat Little Debbie's every day, three times a day, I can't blame God for that one.

Like, I don't know what happened. I don't know how. My health just went horrible. God's like, bro, Little Debbie's ain't healthy. Now, here's the other thing where we've done culturally is people purposely and intentionally instigate and agitate a situation and act oblivious to the suffering that follows it.

Paul is a man of righteousness, preaching the gospel. And he says, through many tribulations, we must endure the kingdom of God. When you intentionally stir the pot or make unwise decisions and experience the consequences, that's not tribulations. There's actually another proverb that you need to read. This is Proverbs 37, because it's not in the Bible.

But you play stupid games, you win stupid process. That's not suffering and persecution. You gotta be very discerning on what's going on, right? If you get persecuted, experience trials and tribulations, and you're like, hey, man, like, my heart is pure in this. I'm like, God's like, yeah, that's suffering.

But if you intentionally agitate your wife a hundred times and she gets mad at you, that's your fault. You gotta be very clear on these things. But then you have to also have your heart encouraged that when you do experience trials and sufferings, that you're just simply walking in the footsteps of who Jesus is and what he did and others like him, right? Jesus, why we sung this song for he is the son of suffering, right? You think about the worst thing that could happen to the greatest person who ever lived, the innocent man Jesus experienced the cross.

Paul hears a man just preaching and proclaiming Jesus and gets stoned.

As you think about trials, right? Here's My friends at Church of 1122 said this, right? This is that simply trials are not meant to be an intact but as conditioning for your soul. Like you're going to experience some stuff, it's not an attack as much as it's conditioning for your soul. Trials are not meant to isolate us from God, but to entrust us to him.

Trials are not meant to be the end, but the gospel turns trials into triumphs. Trials are not meant to stop our growth, but to move us beyond the grace that justifies us into the grace that sanctifies us. Trials are not meant to consume us, but to refine us. So maybe, just maybe, we ought to act more surprised when trials aren't coming our way rather than when they do. Like, if our lives are just kind of stalled and neutral.

If you're not experiencing some trials, if you're not going through a little bit of suffering, maybe that might be the point where, like, hey, maybe I'm not pursuing Jesus in the way I thought. And when you are experiencing trials, just reminding yourself that, hey, man, God has a greater purpose in those for you. So they preached the gospel, made disciples, strengthened and encouraged, reminded them that trials are part of the Christian life. But then fourth says that they raised up godly leaders to lead the church, verse 23. And when they appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

So what we see here is Paul realizing, hey, I'm not going to be here forever. So while I am here, what I need to do, I need to raise up some good men to eld the church. I need to raise up some good godly leaders and appoint them and commit them to the Lord. Because you got to remember back in Acts 14 when they were in Iconium, it says that the unbelieving Jews stirred them up and poisoned their minds. And it says in verse three, so they remained for a long time.

And so at some point in this text, we see that Paul is like, hey, here's some godly leaders. Here's some people that I need to appoint, raise up, and let them lead in my absence. Every single man in this church look up at me like, I need you to go to First Timothy 3, and I need you to write it down and memorize first Timothy 3:1:7. And this just needs to be the vision for your life. Like, this needs to be where you're like, hey, I'm going to aspire for this type of noble character.

Not that you would become an elder or pastor one day, but that you would just have a life marked by godly character in such a way that if we got up and we're like, hey, we need 57 elders, we'd be like, man, we got 75 to choose from. Like, it just needs to be the aim and aspiration of your life that you would walk in that kind of character. That when we're like, hey, we need some new elders. Like, who do we want? Like, we got too many on deck.

Like, 1 Timothy 3. 3 ought to be the aspiration, right? Like, when women are like, I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman, men, you're like, I want to be a first Timothy three man. I'm not going to pursue godliness and character if I decide to be a leader one day. But no, God has already uniquely positioned you as a leader.

So it ought to be the aspiration to raise up good godly men to eld the church and to raise up good godly men and women to lead and to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

Here's Paul raising up godly leaders to lead the church.

Like, I just want my life to be marked by that. I said this last week, some of you will be with us two years, some of you 20 years. I just want us to have such a culture of heightening more and more godly character in our people so that when you do go to your next location and destination, people call us and be like, I don't know what you're doing at Church of the Valley, but these are some of the best of the best.

Next week, what you're gonna see is Paul and Barnabas are gonna travel back to Antioch and celebrate all that God did. So next week, what are we gonna do? We're just gonna celebrate together all that God has done. But here's how I want us to close. As I think about the four things that Paul did is all of that sounds great and a lot of that sounds awesome to me because I'm like a charge of the hill type of guy.

Like, let's just go do that. But what I want us to do is not just go do that without being a people of prayer. And so what this is going to look like is just kind of a sneak peek of at kind of what my heart, where my heart's at. Like, I'm personally just spending the next six months, the first six months of this year, like, just asking the Lord, how do I lead our church to be a praying church? Like, how do we be a church that's just marked by ministry of the Word and prayer?

Like, how do I lead us to be a church that is just known for that? Right? Like, I'm actually stepping in. Like, I've got a partnership with the organization. Like, we'll teach your church planners how to pray.

And I'm like, cool, I want to do it, too. Not just those dudes, but me. One of my friends is hosting an entire day about this in Texas. I'm like, text them this morning. Hey, man, I want to come to that because I just want to see this because I want us to be that type of church because I'm becoming more and more convicted and more and more aware that we could do a lot of things for the Lord.

But if we're not praying, then we're walking in our own strength.

In Joel 1:14 says, Consecrate a fast, call psalm assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. And so what I want us to do is just pray together. How this is going to look is I'm going to give you a couple statements maybe, oh, yeah, that's me. Oh, yeah, that's me.

And I just want you to spend the next five minutes maybe by yourself, just kneeling in your chair, kneeling at the front of the altar, going to the back with our prayer team. But I just want us to just cry out to the Lord. This is what Joel says to do, says get everybody together and cry out to him, right? We talked about four things that Paul was marked by. We could be marked by those same four things through the power of prayer.

So maybe, number one, What's got you heavy burden this morning? Like, what did you walk in here with?

Like, just the weariness you're feeling, the overwhelminess that's going on. Scripture says to cry out to the Lord, right? This is where Peter says to cast all your anxieties on him. Like, what's overwhelming you today? Cry out to the Lord and bring it to him today.

Number two, what's the angst of your soul? Like, what has you just kind of like this, Like, I don't know, like, what the right emotion is, but what are you just like, man, I just feel like this angst right now. Just cry out to the Lord over it. Like, when you're seeing the world and you're like, man, there's like all these things going on, and it's created this angstiness in me. What are those?

Joel says to cry out to the Lord, what's keeping you from living a life that's all in for the sake of the gospel? Cry out to the Lord on it. Like, what's keeping you? Is it sin? Is it shame?

Insecurities, lack of focus, Apathy, complacency? Like, what's keeping you from being all in for the sake of the gospel?

Maybe for some of you it's just asking the Lord, God, what's the one thing you want me to do? Like, what is my next step today?

Maybe for some of us it's just crying out. As we sung in the very beginning, Mark 9, 22, 24, It's this man that goes to Jesus, and he asked him to heal His Son.

Verse 22 or verse 21 says, When Jesus asked the Father, how long has this been happening to him? And he said, from childhood, verse 22. And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible for the one who believes.

And immediately Father cried out and said, I believe. Help my unbelief.

Maybe what you need to cry out to the Lord on today is you're just walking through what you think is impossible. And for the angst of your soul and the weariness you experience, it's like, hey, I know God can do these things. I know he's more than able, but will he? Like, that's where we get real and honest before the Lord in this moment. As you stop kind of masquerading all these, like, these scenarios in your head, how you try to disclaimer to God why, the heart just fills this unbelief.

And so maybe that's it today, God, I know you can, but I need you to help my unbelief in this moment.

So would you bow your head? I'm going to pray for you. And then we're just gonna give you space to pray in your seat. For some of you, it's just looking at your friends that are with you and be like, hey, here's what I want you to cry out to the Lord with me on. Here's where I need God to do something that seems impossible.

Here's where I need him to change my heart. Here's where I need him to repair some things. Here's where I need the grace of God. And we're just gonna have this whole room filled with God's people praying, Father, I pray that you would have your way.

I pray for every single person, God, that they would cry out to you, God, for the things that are overwhelming them, the things that are consuming them, God, the things that they feel embarrassed or shamed to mention, God, that you would grant them grace upon grace. I pray that this place would be a people of prayer. God, for all the burdens that we carried, may we leave them with you this morning. In Jesus name, Amen. So if you need to come forward, if you need to go to the back, if you just need to get on your knees in your chair, if you need to find somebody and be like, hey, here's what's going on, but let's just spend a few minutes praying.