Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:06 I'm gonna carry on with the message that I started a little while ago. And I started because for me personally, I'm sensing an urgency with regards to the salvation of people in my life, in my world. And salvation really speaks of you and I being rescued. That's the literal definition of salvation it's to be rescued. And now when we speak about salvation in the context of God, faith, church salvation speaks of humanity made up of every single individual. And it's important to remind ourselves of that. When we use big generic terms like humanity or mankind or the world, it's just the son of individual parts who in God's eyes, every single individual is important. Every single one, no matter what that individual looks like, where they've come from, what their past has been, any of what their circumstances of God in his loving kindness being creator loves unconditionally.
Speaker 1 00:01:30 His created of which we are that. And we established a little while ago that if we had to look at the grand will of God, which if you've been around church for a little while, perhaps you've grown up in a Jesus believing household, that term I'm sure would have come up the will of God. What is the will of God? And it seems to be quite a mysterious question, but if you look at it from a biblical perspective, ultimately the will of God, what he wants is that all people would come into salvation would come into rescuing, would come into brand new life and relationship with him. So that is what he wants. That is his will. And he has chosen to reach all people through people. And those people are you and I, that he would want to see people being saved and rescued. And he's entrusted that incredible opportunity and responsibility to us. But it's amazing to me that God would choose to reach lost people through people like you and I. And what I love about it is that it speaks so strongly of God's amazing grace, that there is grace, his unearned undeserved favor, and enabling power. For those of us who would believe that he could take a person from a very broken situation, bring wholeness into their life, but then use that brokenness to bring wholeness to others.
Speaker 1 00:03:20 So God wants to reach all people and he wants to use us to do it. The urgency is real. I know TA brought into our space in our very short journey being one year celebrated last weekend, the idea of times coming to an end. And it's a real thing. If we believe in the word of God, if we follow a biblical narrative, there is going to be a point where the time as we know it will conclude and there will be a new time to begin. And that is a real threshold moment. And it's a moment where at the end of that time, there's nothing more that we can do about the time that we have now. And so the question has to be asked, are we making the most of the time now? And who are we reaching out to in those minutes? So Matthew 28 is a key passage of scripture that we touched on where Jesus speaks to his closest followers in the end of his time on earth.
Speaker 1 00:04:33 And he commissions them to this great mission to go to the nations and to make disciples of all people, to see them being baptized in water and in holy spirit being into, into the family or household of God. And for that to perpetuate through us, two Corinthians chapter five speaks about how we now in this time are ambassadors of the gospel. We are representatives of God's amazing grace, not of his religious perfection, not of our church obligation, not of our pretenses and performances. No, no. We are ambassadors that there is a God who loves us enough that even in our brokenness and even in our weakness, and even in us being so far from him, he would make a way when we couldn't make a way for ourselves. That is what we are ambassadors of. We're ambassadors that God could take a person like me and like you, and bring us close so close that our lives would be changed forever.
Speaker 1 00:05:47 The key passage of scripture that I want to get into today, um, is from acts chapter 16. It's a scenario where two of, uh, the most significant converts in our new Testament are in prison. And you know why he was in prison. He was in prison because he stood upon a conviction that said, Jesus is the Messiah. And he is Lord of all. And simply by that conviction, he finds himself in prison. Some of us today feel as if we are highly persecuted for our faith. I think some of us need to get a little perspective on that. And so here we have a man who in times of significant oppression where Caesar was upheld as the God of the time chooses to hold onto the truth that Jesus is Lord and so finds himself in prison. Okay. And interestingly enough, if you read the entire passage, it's at a certain time of the night, I believe it's roundabout midnight. They're in prison, not the most favorable of circumstances, right? I know some of us right now are facing very real challenging circumstances. I get it. I, I, I fully appreciate it. I am aware of it, but just be thankful that you're not hearing this message in a prison cell, but that you're sitting in a nice air conditioned, beautiful looking building with some great people alongside you. And we have Adrian on the Coff machine. You know what I mean? So they are in prison and they are singing songs of worship.
Speaker 1 00:07:42 It's easy to sing songs of worship when things are good, right? Like thank you, Jesus, man, son is shining. I'm gonna have a Bri after this. Thank you God. Like, you know, but I feel like a true test of our maturity, which is really the aim guys. The aim is, is, is us growing in maturity in Jesus, often seen in our trust expression of said trust in the most difficult of circumstances. So here they are at midnight in prison, singing songs of worship. And then the most amazing thing takes place. There's an earthquake, an earthquake to the extent that all the prison sells, fly open. Okay. And here we pick it up in verse 27 as the prison, God realizes that the prisoners are about to escape. The Jayla woke up. And when he saw the prison doors, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped, took his job seriously, verse 28.
Speaker 1 00:09:07 But Paul shouted do not harm yourself. We are all here. Okay. Just hang on a second. Like you are in prison for your faith, completely unjust. Like there's no way to even justify the justice of them being imprisoned. And yet Paul who is wrongly imprisoned face to face with the oppressor or representative of the oppressor, does the most radical of things brings awareness to the oppressor that they are still there. I don't know how many of us would've done that. It doesn't make sense. There is no logic in it. At that point, you are hightailing it out of their place. You know what I mean? You're probably not even telling other people, you know, you're just kinda like, uh, I don't think I'd tell you Owen. I reckon I'd be gone. Like <laugh>, you know what I mean? I might shot they're in there when I'm out and you're still kinda, you know, coming your hair and something like, but, but he does something radical and here's the thing, guys, our faith in Jesus, how easy is it to just water it down to living a good life, having good things, being comfortable, everything's easy and there's nothing radical about our lives.
Speaker 1 00:10:58 And I'll be honest with you, a perspective that I had towards Christianity before I chose to receive this amazing grace that we would know through Jesus was because I had this idea that Christianity was so boring, like just gray, you know, mundane toe the line, tick the boxes, fulfill obligation. Just be good, boring. Get through life. Maybe on my deathbed, turn one cheek towards Jesus. Save me now. So I can go to heaven type thing. But when you look at the reality of people's lives, following Jesus, there was nothing mundane. And now I'm saying they didn't have mundane moments because I appreciate we pick up on so much of the highlights. Like this is our highlight real, a person in prison, and there's an earthquake and they're about to escape. Like that's a pretty dramatic day, right? Uh, and so I appreciate these mundane moments.
Speaker 1 00:12:10 I get it. But when it comes to Christianity and faith, I see it more like it's a mundane adventure that yes, there's mundane moments, but if we're not living it with the sense of adventure, a sense of being radical, a sense of, of joy and passion and purpose. What's the point because we once were lost. We once were in darkness. And if you haven't recognized that in your life, it is something that you need to give contemplation to you. We all needed rescuing. We were all so significantly lost and there is amazing grace in that. And it's, and that's that realization of that that should spur us on to purpose and adventure and passion and spur us on to radical moments where everybody's going that way. We're going this way. I think Trevor Noah does such a great job of that. Have you ever seen Trevor no's speaking of like South Africa where he is like everyone's here and South Africa goes here, <laugh>, you know, like, but there are moments right where everybody's swimming this way, but we take a stand. Well, we take a stand and we don't follow the stream of society. We don't follow the stream. That is a stream of negativity. We don't follow a stream. That is a, a stream of, of like criticism of, of division, of, of lack of no, no, we stand upon whom we stand upon and his name is Jesus.
Speaker 1 00:14:05 And that might even be just radical. Just scan on the name of Jesus and your workplace and your friendships in your family. So Paul does this radical thing, and then here's the next phenomenal thing that occurs in this acts chapter 16. So the Jayla calls for lights, he rushes in falls trembling before Paul and Silas, he then brought them out and ask thems, what must I do to be saved? Okay, here is, here is my prayer. Like for us in this time, in this urgency of salvation and, and this mission being ours and, and, and realizing that we are to be ambassadors to carry this message of reconciliation, my hope and my prayer is that there there's at least a spark or a little flame that starts to burn within us. That turns into a fire to know that there are people around us that we might not even be aware of, but they are calling out the same question.
Speaker 1 00:15:05 They just might not be expressing it in the same way, because there is a cry in every human heart, every human heart, there is a cry to something more, especially when there is a deep awareness of a lack where there is a space that cannot be filled by the good things that we try and the bad things that we do. And so there is the cry of the human heart for something greater. In this context, it is the literal question. What must I do to be saved? Now notice the question. What must I do such a common question? What must I do when faced with uncertainty? When, when faced with the realization that, that we need something more in our lives. We so quickly go to what must I do? We're such a do oriented society, particularly in the west we're performance oriented, we're achievement based we're obligation bound.
Speaker 1 00:16:22 And so he asked what must I do? And I'm sure there have been times in our lives, even in our faith. And if I could ask you to consider your personal walk with God, is it based upon this question? What must I do? And you're always coming to God with this sincere heart. God, what must I do? What must I do? And there is the pressure of doing there is the pressure of task. There is the pressure of performance. I love the response from Paul and Silas. They don't answer with what he must do. They simply say believe, believe profoundly simple. Yet the very basis of what our walk with God is when we can be so do oriented. God is just asking us to be more trust, oriented, just trust because that's what belief is.
Speaker 1 00:17:32 It's trusting. It's trusting in the existence of God. That alone should change the way that we live. Because if we believe God is actually God surely that affects the way that we at work our lives from a day to day basis. When we're faced with difficulties, when we're faced with complexities, when we, we find ourselves in situations of uncertainty, but not only do we believe in the existence of God, we believe that God in his character is a good God is a God of love and a God who cares. Yes, he is mighty God. And yes, he is sovereign God. And yes, he is powerful God and holy God. And, and he is beyond anything that we can comprehend, but he is a God that desires what closeness with us that is his will. That is his want.
Speaker 1 00:18:32 And so let's not live out our faith in following Jesus based upon what we do first, but based upon what we believe and in whom we believe. So the question you have to ask yourself is, do you believe, like, do we believe? And I love it because Paul responds and they have this beautiful exchange where like right in the moment, um, they go into this person's house in verse 34, the jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them. He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, but not just him, he and his whole household.
Speaker 1 00:19:26 And last time I spoke, I spoke to you about you and your household, them and their household. And in reference to them to recap very quickly, the, them are people in our life or people we are aware of that are the least likely to turn to Jesus. Salvation is for them too. The least deserving of Jesus. Salvation is for them too. And salvation can only arrive with them when we choose to go to them. And that is why the message of the gospel is a going message. But it's a going from a place of rest, not a place of strife. Jesus in Matthew 28 says go into the world. But in acts chapter one, he says, before you go, wait, wait for holy spirit, wait for empowerment, wait for grace, wait for understanding, wait, and then go. And bear, witness to my amazing grace in these fears of life. And so when I speak a message about you and your household, and we see a passage where this jailer comes to believe in, God brings these Jesus people into his house. Not only is he saved, but his entire household.
Speaker 1 00:21:00 And I want you to be aware of your household, that household can be defined literally as in a family unit, the people under the roof in which we live, but the way Eugene Peterson phrases it in the message is also by saying everyone you care for salvation is for them. I wanna stir a faith within us to believe that salvation is coming to our household. Not just the people under our roof, although, like I said, that could be the case, but everyone that we care for now, could I build an entire message about you and your household to lead you to believe that salvation is not just for you, but that actually God desires a ripple effect through you into those that you would care for based upon one passage scripture? Well, no, I couldn't. So let me give you some more examples of where salvation doesn't just come to an individual, but comes to a household.
Speaker 1 00:22:10 Everyone that you care for acts chapter 16, Lydia receives salvation. And guess what? So does a whole household in John chapter four, a Royal official cries out to Jesus for a miracle takes Jesus at his word. Salvation comes to him and guess what? His whole household in act chapter 18 Crispus who is the synagogue leader receives salvation. And so does his whole, whole household in one Corinthians once tofa receives salvation and help me out. So does his whole salvation is for you and everyone you care for. And perhaps for a little while you haven't given that the contemplation that it deserves, perhaps you've had faith in, you haven't necessarily seen the fruit of that faith. And perhaps that faith has waned that passion, that, and now we just live from a place of like, oh, well, like what will be will be, you know, I wanna create within us an urgency, an urgency for salvation, our salvation, yes.
Speaker 1 00:23:32 Their salvation, the least of these, the most unlikely. Yes, but also for people that you care for because the strategy of God that all would come to know him takes place through you and I, through simply us bearing witness to his amazing grace, to the people that we care for. I'm gonna finish by reading this little excerpt that I came across. There is, um, a Christian research group in America. It's called the Barna group. They provide a lot of information with regards to the state of the church and Christianity and the world. Um, and there was a, a research done talking of, uh, the witnessing of Christians. In other words, believers fulfilling the great commission and living out what we would see in two Corinthians five, by being ambassadors. It says this nearly all non-Christians or lapsed Christians, their language, not mine. Okay. Nearly all non-Christians or lapsed.
Speaker 1 00:24:49 Christians have a friend or a family member who is active in their Christian faith. Now I know this is a study in America, but just consider that for a moment. All non-Christians or lapsed Christians have at least one active Jesus believer in their world, more than six in 10, 60% of non-Christians or lapsed Christians say they would be open to talking about faith with someone over 60%. There are people in your life right now, two thirds of them actually, who are prepared to go on this journey of faith. But here's the kicker. They're only prepared to listen to people who listen or sorry. Talk with people who listen without judgment.
Speaker 1 00:25:52 That is the number one hindrance to what this research suggests about. People willing to have conversations of faith that they believe as soon as they go down that road, they're gonna get judged. Um, but only 34% of that group see this trait in Christians. They know personally. So the majority of believers that are in their life are at least giving the impression of judgment. They also desire these qualities in processing faith conversations, Christians who don't force conclusions, Christians who demonstrate an interest in their story. <laugh> Christians who are good at asking questions. Here's the thing. However, willing they might be. Christians' ability to witness for Christ is impeded. By the simple fact, they don't have meaningful relationships with non-Christians salvation arrives with them. When we choose to go to them, salvation is for you and your household. And maybe believe for it, maybe create an urgency for it and have faith that God will bring salvation into us.
