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Acts 1:1–11

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In the first book. Oath. The office.

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I have dealt with all that
Jesus began to do and teach

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until the day when he was taken up,
after he had given commands

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through the Holy Spirit to the apostles
whom he had chosen.

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He presented himself alive to them
after his suffering by many proofs,

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appearing to them during 40 days,
and speaking about the kingdom of God.

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And while staying with them, he ordered
them not to depart from Jerusalem,

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but to wait for the promise of the father,
which he said, you heard from me.

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For John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized

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with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.

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So when they had come together,
they asked him, Lord,

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will you at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?

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And he said to them,

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it is not for you to know
times or seasons that the father

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has fixed by his own authority,
but you will receive power

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when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

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and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.

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And when he had said these things,
as they were looking on,

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he was lifted up,
and a cloud took him out of their sight.

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And while they were gazing into heaven,
as he went, behold,

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two men stood by them in white robes,
and said, Men of Galilee.

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Why do you stand looking into heaven?

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This Jesus
who has taken up from you into heaven,

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will come in the same way
as you saw him go into heaven.

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Well,

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welcome to the weekend here at Christ
Community Chapel.

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My name is Zach,

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I'm one of the pastors here,
and we are so glad we get to be

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part of your weekend,
specially an outdoor service.

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I see those fans are working. That's good.

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Keep yourselves cool. That's good.

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Don't hesitate to flag somebody down
for a bottle of water,

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head back to the refreshments,

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that's not going to bother me.

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Stay, stay comfortable.

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Stay hydrated.

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We are so glad, we're baptizing.

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you know,
we already had one service this morning,

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we baptized 14 people in that service.

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We are planning to baptize 30 people
in this service.

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It's going to be awesome.

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I say planning
because I'll tell you in a minute,

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we are ready for you to make a decision
to trust Jesus to be baptized today.

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I'll say more about that in a minute.

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So 30 minimum could be more.

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But hey, if you're a friend or family
member of somebody who's getting baptized,

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I just want to start by saying
thanks so much for being here.

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What a wonderful way
to support them and care for them.

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We're glad you're joining us.
Thanks a lot.

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We are starting our fall sermon series.

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We're going to be in the book of Acts.

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We're calling it Room For More.

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And the reason we're calling
that is a little bit of a double meaning.

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One thing we're going to learn
by studying the book of Acts, the book

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that details the beginning of this thing
we call the church, is

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that God
always wants to make room for more.

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He's always looking to reach more people,
to bring more people in.

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We want to join him in that.

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We want to be a church
that takes that seriously.

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We want to make room for more
and more people.

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In fact, you can drive around our property
and see that

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that is true as we're building space
for more and more people.

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That's who God
is. That's who we want to be.

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But not only that, another meaning
of calling this room for more

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is what we're going to see is, as we study
the book of acts,

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is that the local church is meant to be
the most exciting place on the planet.

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It is meant to be a place
where God is doing

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incredible things,
where God is changing lives, restoring

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relationships, rebuilding families,
setting people free from addictions.

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We want to see God do the incredible.

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And so we increasingly want to create
more room,

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even in our own expectations,
that we would show up to church.

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We would be expecting something incredible
to happen, believing

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that God can and will and wants
to do incredible things.

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Room for more people.

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Room for more expectations from God.

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In fact,
this sermon series is a little unique.

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I'll tell you more about this at the end.

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It's a ten week series that is building
towards a particular event,

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as we just lay brick
by brick in our theology

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of having a big view of God
and expecting him to do big things.

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And I'll end the sermon
by explaining that.

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But for now, if you have a Bible,
you could open it to acts chapter one.

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If you don't know problem,
it's going to be on the screen behind me.

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Or if you just don't want to hold it
because you're too busy fanning yourself,

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no problem.

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It's going to be on the screen
in front of me, in front of you.

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But also I have a three point outline I'm
going to use to guide our time together.

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Very simple.

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Three questions I want to ask this.

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Why is there a sequel?

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Who is in this one
and who drives the plot forward?

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Why is there a sequel?

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Who is in this one
and who drives the plot forward?

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All right, let's start with the first one.

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Why is there a sequel?

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You know, my children have grown up
in an era in which they expect

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that every movie that is made for them
is one of many.

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Like, I just took my kids
this summer to see Toy Story

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five, just like I took them to see Toy
Story four.

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Toy story three.

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If they make a Toy Story six,
we'll be there.

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We're going to see it.

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You've got the minions movies.

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There are all these movies made for kids
where there are one, two, three, four,

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five, six of them.

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In fact, my kids
just now expect that any movie they watch,

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there's a second one or a third one.

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I could take them to the movie

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theater to see a brand new movie,
a movie that just came out and that night

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and net at home, they'd be scrolling
Netflix trying to find the second one.

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It's just how they think movies work.

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Every movie has a sequel,
and they think that for a good reason.

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That's been a Hollywood move
for a long time.

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If you make a movie and it makes money,
you try to make the same movie again.

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Like, did you know
you remember the movie in the 80s, jaws.

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If you've seen this right,
it's an okay movie about a man's battle

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against a shark.

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Did you know they made four jaws movies,
including the last one,

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which is called Jaws The Revenge,
in which a family member of the shark

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from the first movie
developed a personal grudge

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against the family of the guy

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in the first movie and follows them
all over the world trying to get them.

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It's a stupid movie
that never should have been made.

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Sometimes listen, sometimes stories just
over, you know, like it was a good story.

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It ends well.

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Let it, let it be.

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Don't try to make a sequel.

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Which leads me to this question
why doesn't the Bible

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stop after the story of Jesus?

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I mean, Jesus is the Son of God, born
to a virgin

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who lives a life on our planet perfectly,
a life of perfect obedience.

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He tells us he he's come to do that
for us, that he lives a life of obedience

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where we haven't, so that when he goes
to the cross which he told us

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he planned to do, it would be our sin,
not his, that he would carry with him,

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so that when he came up under the anger
and judgment and wrath of God

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the Father, that together
as part of their plan they could do away

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with all the judgment that was on us,
and we could be forgiven, he told us.

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And then did.

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Raised from the dead three days later,
he ascended into heaven.

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I mean, it's a great ending.

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Why does the Bible keep going?

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Why wouldn't you stop there?

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That's a good place to stop.

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And I just want you to see that the Luke,
the guy who wrote the book of acts,

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also wrote the Gospel of Luke,
one of the four stories

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of Jesus's life, death and resurrection.

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And he tells us at the beginning
of the book of acts

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that he's writing a sequel,
that he's keeping the story going.

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Here's what he says acts
chapter one, verses one through three.

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He says this in the first book.

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Or for our metaphor,
you might say in the first movie,

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I have

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dealt with all that Jesus began to do
and teach

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till the day when he was taken up, after

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he had given commands to the Holy Spirit,
to the apostles whom he had chosen,

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he presented himself alive to them
after his suffering by many proofs,

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appearing to them during 40 days,
and speaking about the kingdom of God.

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Great ending, great ending.

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Why make another one?

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Well, the answer to that is actually found
in acts chapter one, verse eight, where

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Jesus tells his apostles
that he wants them to be

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his witnesses to Jerusalem,
where they were when he said it,

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Judea, Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.

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You see, what Jesus is saying
is that the story isn't over.

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And the reason it isn't over, he says, is

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because there are people
who don't know about him.

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So the Bible tells us that the way
to have a relationship

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with God is wonderfully,
inclusively exclusive.

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And what I mean by

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that is the Bible tells us only one way
to have a relationship with God.

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That is faith in Jesus Christ, His Son,
his life, his death, and his resurrection.

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But that way is available to everyone

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but Jesus in his life and in his ministry,
only traveled

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about a geographic distance of 150 miles.

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So in the beginning of the book of Acts,
Jesus tells us the reason

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there's a sequel.

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The reason the story keeps going
is because there are a lot of people

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in a lot of places
who do not know what he's done,

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who do not know that it is possible
for them to have

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a relationship with God,
to be forgiven, to be included.

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But to that way is only through Jesus.

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You see, when Jesus says
the story has to keep going

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because more people have to hear,
even to the ends of the earth.

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Do you understand? He's talking about us.

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Peter, James
and John had never been to Northeast Ohio.

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They would never make it to Northeast
Ohio.

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The mission of Jesus was to make sure
that 2000 years later,

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you and I could hear what he had
done, could be given the opportunity

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to trust in his life and his death
and his resurrection for our salvation.

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The work of Jesus is not done.

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It continues through the local church's
mission

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to get the message of Jesus
to more people in more places,

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so that they might have opportunity
to believe, because that's who God is.

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A God who desires to include God,
who desires to forgive.

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That's why the local church exists.

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That's why there is a sequel.

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But that begs the question,
and that's my second point.

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Well, who's in this one?

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And here's what I mean.

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You may remember another movie from like
late 80s, early 90s called speed.

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Do you remember this movie?

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Keanu Reeves did the premises.

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Keanu Reeves is on a bus
and there's a bomb on the bus.

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And if the bus slows down,
the bomb will go off.

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So they have to maintain speed.

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And somehow
Sandra Bullock ends up on the bus.

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She doesn't really seem
like someone who would take the bus, but

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she's on the bus and together
they try to keep everybody alive.

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Speed was a successful movie,
and actually the writers reached out

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to Keanu Reeves to ask him to be,
and you guessed it, speed two.

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And I, I watched an interview this week
where Keanu said, you know,

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I was open to it.

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I liked speed, so I asked them,
what is the plot of speed two?

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And they said, well,
this one takes place on a cruise ship,

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and if the cruise ship slows down,
the bomb goes off.

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And to which Keanu said,
have you ever been on a cruise ship?

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They're not fast.

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That's a stupid idea for a movie.

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He declined to be in the movie,
and as you might have guessed, speed two

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was a terrible failure at the box office.

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You see, because it's hard to make
speed, too, if Keanu Reeves isn't in it.

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Hard to make a sequel
if the star isn't in it.

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So even if there needs to be a sequel,
here's the question

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who is going to make the story happen

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if not for Jesus?

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Jesus is ascending into heaven.

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Jesus is going to to make ready heaven
for all of us who place our faith in him.

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He isn't going to show up
in the book of acts beyond this

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first chapter,
how can you continue the story of Jesus

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without Jesus,
who is going to do the work?

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00:13:01,353 --> 00:13:03,956
Well,
Jesus tells us his expectation and acts.

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Chapter one verse eight.

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Look at the screen with me. Here's
what he says.

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00:13:07,427 --> 00:13:13,350
But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

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00:13:13,350 --> 00:13:17,705
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

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and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.

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00:13:22,193 --> 00:13:27,115
Now, in the context of this passage, of
course, the you there are the disciples.

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Jesus is telling them, okay, I'm
ascending into heaven.

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The work is yours.

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00:13:32,304 --> 00:13:37,993
Now I want you to take the message of what
I've done this wonderfully, inclusively

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00:13:37,993 --> 00:13:43,116
exclusive message of how every person
can be forgiven through me.

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00:13:43,116 --> 00:13:48,905
I want you to take it to the ends of
the earth that that mission is for them.

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00:13:48,905 --> 00:13:54,428
But I want you to see that Jesus intends
that mission to go everywhere.

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00:13:55,262 --> 00:13:59,434
But all the disciples within
the next 100 years will be dead,

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and they will have taken the gospel
beyond the geographic area that Jesus did.

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But there will still be work to do.

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00:14:06,792 --> 00:14:10,229
You see Jesus in Acts
one eight when he says, but you will be

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00:14:10,229 --> 00:14:13,232
my witnesses,
is not just speaking to the disciples.

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00:14:13,232 --> 00:14:18,955
He's speaking to all of us who believe,
all of us who are followers of him.

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00:14:18,955 --> 00:14:22,909
He's saying, and you will be my witnesses
in Northeast Ohio.

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00:14:23,143 --> 00:14:27,397
You will be the ones who make sure
people know they can be forgiven.

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00:14:27,397 --> 00:14:28,432
They can be included.

255
00:14:28,432 --> 00:14:30,384
They can be accepted through me.

256
00:14:30,384 --> 00:14:32,953
You will be my witnesses.

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00:14:32,953 --> 00:14:37,759
We are the continuation of the mission
of Jesus Christ.

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00:14:37,942 --> 00:14:41,229
Unless you doubt that, just consider this.

259
00:14:41,313 --> 00:14:46,585
We're baptizing today
44 people across two services.

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00:14:46,585 --> 00:14:49,104
But what's what's incredible about

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00:14:49,104 --> 00:14:52,875
that is not only that 44
people are trusting Jesus.

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00:14:52,875 --> 00:14:55,511
I'll say more about that in a minute,
but I want you to understand

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00:14:55,511 --> 00:14:57,514
I'm on stage up here with a microphone.

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00:14:57,514 --> 00:15:02,152
Most of the 44 people getting baptized
this weekend do not have a personal

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00:15:02,152 --> 00:15:03,504
relationship with me.

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00:15:04,555 --> 00:15:07,792
The people who drew, who drove the story,

267
00:15:07,825 --> 00:15:10,912
who made part of the mission of Jesus

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00:15:10,912 --> 00:15:13,915
include them are their parents,

269
00:15:14,065 --> 00:15:17,552
their friends,
their family members, their neighbors,

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00:15:17,552 --> 00:15:20,706
their colleagues,
the person who invited them to church.

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00:15:20,706 --> 00:15:25,344
The person who began a conversation
about God with them.

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00:15:25,478 --> 00:15:28,798
Every one of these 44
people have people in their lives

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00:15:28,798 --> 00:15:30,583
who have pointed them to Jesus.

274
00:15:30,583 --> 00:15:34,304
Those people are who Jesus meant.

275
00:15:34,504 --> 00:15:40,310
We are the ones
God wants to reach Northeast Ohio through.

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00:15:40,394 --> 00:15:43,113
We are the witnesses of Jesus.

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00:15:43,113 --> 00:15:46,984
He has placed here
so that our friends and family members

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00:15:46,984 --> 00:15:52,474
and colleagues and neighbors might know
they too, can be forgiven.

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00:15:52,474 --> 00:15:57,429
When Jesus says, you will be my witnesses,
he means you.

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00:15:57,996 --> 00:15:59,598
He means you.

281
00:15:59,598 --> 00:16:01,467
And. And here's the thing.

282
00:16:01,467 --> 00:16:05,354
He also means
the 44 people being baptized.

283
00:16:05,755 --> 00:16:08,792
What he's telling the disciples is
the work isn't done.

284
00:16:08,792 --> 00:16:10,994
More people in more places.

285
00:16:10,994 --> 00:16:16,350
He had in mind 2000 years later,
people in Northeast Ohio, people in Hudson

286
00:16:16,383 --> 00:16:20,988
on September 13th
responding in faith to Jesus.

287
00:16:21,038 --> 00:16:23,157
These 44 people were why?

288
00:16:23,157 --> 00:16:25,593
Jesus said the mission has to keep going.

289
00:16:25,593 --> 00:16:29,831
And the reason I say that is because
perhaps, maybe he also meant you.

290
00:16:31,066 --> 00:16:32,067
You also

291
00:16:32,067 --> 00:16:36,238
can be forgiven and included in
what God is doing,

292
00:16:36,238 --> 00:16:39,558
being guaranteed a place
and the kingdom that is to come.

293
00:16:39,558 --> 00:16:41,911
Not because you've earned it,
not because you deserve it,

294
00:16:41,911 --> 00:16:46,266
but because Jesus Christ has lived
in your place and died in your place

295
00:16:46,266 --> 00:16:47,751
and rose from the dead.

296
00:16:47,751 --> 00:16:50,988
And if it's some point today,
a month from now, a year from now,

297
00:16:51,038 --> 00:16:54,592
you feel the call of God to respond
in faith.

298
00:16:54,592 --> 00:16:58,913
It is because 2000 years ago,
a mission began

299
00:16:58,913 --> 00:17:02,350
in which Jesus included you.

300
00:17:03,635 --> 00:17:06,354
The mission of Jesus is not over.

301
00:17:06,354 --> 00:17:11,076
It continues every day
through the work of the local church.

302
00:17:11,710 --> 00:17:12,828
But if you're hearing me,

303
00:17:12,828 --> 00:17:16,666
what you're hearing me say is, okay,
so the mission of Jesus is continuing.

304
00:17:16,666 --> 00:17:17,984
Jesus is in heaven.

305
00:17:17,984 --> 00:17:22,272
We're doing the work, or we up for that?

306
00:17:23,023 --> 00:17:24,958
Are we capable of that?

307
00:17:26,193 --> 00:17:27,995
Are we the right people to trust?

308
00:17:27,995 --> 00:17:29,463
Well, that leads me to my third point.

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00:17:29,463 --> 00:17:33,117
Not just why is there a sequel
and who's in this one,

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00:17:33,117 --> 00:17:36,638
but also who drives the plot forward?

311
00:17:37,238 --> 00:17:40,992
A chick fil A recently opened up
about four minutes from my house.

312
00:17:41,026 --> 00:17:43,311
There's a little bit in Northeast Ohio.

313
00:17:43,311 --> 00:17:44,112
There's a little bit of a

314
00:17:44,112 --> 00:17:47,116
I don't know if you notice
a chicken Cold War going on right now.

315
00:17:47,182 --> 00:17:49,518
It's like Raising Cane's and Chick fil
A going up everywhere,

316
00:17:49,518 --> 00:17:51,354
and I feel like
we're the beneficiary of that war.

317
00:17:51,354 --> 00:17:54,190
Like, let them let them keep fighting.
They're going up all over.

318
00:17:54,190 --> 00:17:54,991
There's a chick fil A

319
00:17:54,991 --> 00:17:57,510
now like four minutes from my house,
and I didn't want to get excited.

320
00:17:57,510 --> 00:17:58,428
So I looked it up this week.

321
00:17:58,428 --> 00:18:00,997
I thought, well, what are the odds it's
going to make it right?

322
00:18:00,997 --> 00:18:04,468
What are the odds it's going to stay open
pretty high, I have to tell you,

323
00:18:04,518 --> 00:18:08,305
like the average chick fil
A location makes a profit every year

324
00:18:08,305 --> 00:18:12,510
of about $9.4 million,
which shouldn't surprise any of you,

325
00:18:12,543 --> 00:18:15,547
because I see you in the drive through,
I see you, you're there.

326
00:18:15,547 --> 00:18:16,915
But here's the other thing.

327
00:18:16,915 --> 00:18:20,752
An owner operator of a chick fil
A, which that's a really hard job to get.

328
00:18:20,786 --> 00:18:22,071
You can cook it sometime. Really hard.

329
00:18:22,071 --> 00:18:25,791
Time to get has a listen to this a 96%

330
00:18:25,791 --> 00:18:29,862
success rate 96% now.

331
00:18:29,862 --> 00:18:32,432
But here's the thing. So in other words,
chick fil A doesn't miss.

332
00:18:32,432 --> 00:18:35,352
They don't miss. But but do you know what
I think is interesting?

333
00:18:35,352 --> 00:18:39,990
I have no idea who manages or owns
or operates the local chick fil A's.

334
00:18:40,274 --> 00:18:41,425
I have no idea.

335
00:18:41,425 --> 00:18:42,510
Like I've been to all of them.

336
00:18:42,510 --> 00:18:44,195
I don't know,
they put their picture on the wall.

337
00:18:44,195 --> 00:18:45,630
I don't pay attention, I don't care.

338
00:18:45,630 --> 00:18:48,032
It doesn't make any difference to me.
You know why?

339
00:18:48,032 --> 00:18:52,070
Because the secret sauce of chick fil A
is not the owner operator.

340
00:18:52,637 --> 00:18:53,638
It's the chicken.

341
00:18:53,638 --> 00:18:55,223
It's the customer service. It's.

342
00:18:55,223 --> 00:18:57,826
God help me. It's the milkshakes. Right?
That's the.

343
00:18:57,826 --> 00:18:58,544
That's the secret.

344
00:18:58,544 --> 00:18:59,828
It doesn't matter who's there.

345
00:18:59,828 --> 00:19:02,632
The secret sauce is not the person.

346
00:19:02,632 --> 00:19:04,550
It's chick fil A. Well,
let me tell you something.

347
00:19:04,550 --> 00:19:09,589
When Jesus says the mission of his work
is continuing through the local church,

348
00:19:09,622 --> 00:19:12,876
he's not saying that you
and I are the secret sauce.

349
00:19:13,827 --> 00:19:16,664
We participate,
but the hope of the mission

350
00:19:16,664 --> 00:19:19,433
being successful is not me
and it's not you. Here's what he says.

351
00:19:19,433 --> 00:19:21,385
Look what he says in acts chapter one,
verse eight.

352
00:19:21,385 --> 00:19:24,389
Listen, but you will receive power

353
00:19:24,389 --> 00:19:29,344
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses

354
00:19:29,344 --> 00:19:32,798
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

355
00:19:32,798 --> 00:19:35,184
Do you hear the order of operations there?

356
00:19:35,184 --> 00:19:38,638
He says, the Holy Spirit, the third member

357
00:19:38,638 --> 00:19:41,791
of the Godhead, father, son, and spirit,
he says, I'm going to heaven.

358
00:19:41,791 --> 00:19:43,026
He's coming down.

359
00:19:43,026 --> 00:19:44,511
He will come upon you.

360
00:19:44,511 --> 00:19:46,546
He will bring the power.

361
00:19:46,546 --> 00:19:51,318
He will be the secret sauce,
and then you will be my witnesses.

362
00:19:51,318 --> 00:19:54,555
You see the hope of your friends
and family members and neighbors.

363
00:19:54,555 --> 00:19:59,227
Coming to faith in Jesus is not
the preaching or the music or the people.

364
00:19:59,227 --> 00:20:05,984
It's the Spirit of God working through
the people of God the way he always has.

365
00:20:06,034 --> 00:20:10,039
2000 years ago, Jesus said, we're taking
this thing to the ends of the earth.

366
00:20:10,039 --> 00:20:13,025
And they just thought
he meant the west side of Jerusalem.

367
00:20:13,476 --> 00:20:17,664
Here we sit in Northeast Ohio
with the gospel of Jesus being preached,

368
00:20:17,714 --> 00:20:19,666
not because of the men and women
who carried it,

369
00:20:19,666 --> 00:20:22,702
but because of the Spirit of God
working in them,

370
00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:27,908
is that we think as Christians,
the best that God had to do was behind us.

371
00:20:27,908 --> 00:20:28,742
But it isn't.

372
00:20:28,742 --> 00:20:30,311
It's ahead of us now.

373
00:20:30,311 --> 00:20:33,197
We can never improve
upon the work of Jesus.

374
00:20:33,197 --> 00:20:34,198
That's not what I mean.

375
00:20:34,198 --> 00:20:38,553
But more people hearing about Jesus leads
to greater things.

376
00:20:38,553 --> 00:20:41,189
And if you don't believe me,
listen to what Jesus says

377
00:20:41,189 --> 00:20:43,942
in the Gospel of John, chapter 14,
verse 12.

378
00:20:43,942 --> 00:20:47,663
Here's what he says truly, truly,
I say to you,

379
00:20:47,947 --> 00:20:51,317
whoever believes in me
will also do the works that I do.

380
00:20:51,350 --> 00:20:51,784
Listen.

381
00:20:51,784 --> 00:20:54,904
And greater works than these will

382
00:20:54,904 --> 00:20:58,475
he do because I am going to the father.

383
00:20:58,508 --> 00:21:01,345
Jesus doesn't mean you will die
and raise from the dead

384
00:21:01,345 --> 00:21:04,264
that you will go to the cross
and pay for the sins of the church.

385
00:21:04,264 --> 00:21:08,235
Not what he means,
but he means by greater is geographically.

386
00:21:08,502 --> 00:21:10,671
You will go where I haven't been.

387
00:21:10,671 --> 00:21:14,826
You will tell people
I haven't met that they can be forgiven.

388
00:21:14,826 --> 00:21:15,994
Friends, listen to me.

389
00:21:15,994 --> 00:21:20,115
The best days of the church
are ahead of us,

390
00:21:20,465 --> 00:21:25,438
as the Spirit of God
empowers us to reach people far

391
00:21:25,438 --> 00:21:30,910
from him, for his glory
and to their good room for more.

392
00:21:30,910 --> 00:21:33,797
Room for more people, yes,
but room for more.

393
00:21:33,797 --> 00:21:36,783
God, you said greater things are coming.

394
00:21:36,984 --> 00:21:38,318
We want that.

395
00:21:38,318 --> 00:21:39,186
We want that.

396
00:21:39,186 --> 00:21:41,355
Which is why I'm happy to tell you
that this ten week

397
00:21:41,355 --> 00:21:44,625
series is going to culminate
in an event of some sort.

398
00:21:44,709 --> 00:21:45,393
On November.

399
00:21:45,393 --> 00:21:46,194
November 15th.

400
00:21:46,194 --> 00:21:50,031
I say some sort because construction
is really making my life tough.

401
00:21:50,064 --> 00:21:53,468
Okay, so in some form on November 15th

402
00:21:53,468 --> 00:21:57,106
we are going to gather
for a healing service.

403
00:21:57,706 --> 00:22:00,826
We're going to invite friends and family
members and neighbors that are dealing

404
00:22:00,826 --> 00:22:06,065
with physical illness, mental
and emotional problems, relational damage.

405
00:22:06,065 --> 00:22:06,866
We're going to invite them

406
00:22:06,866 --> 00:22:10,754
to come and be prayed over, because what
we're going to learn in the book of acts

407
00:22:10,754 --> 00:22:15,876
is that the power of God opens doors
for the message of God.

408
00:22:16,026 --> 00:22:19,663
Like there's one story in the book of acts
where the Apostle Paul is in prison

409
00:22:19,663 --> 00:22:23,551
in Philippi, and he is not doing anything
for the mission of Jesus.

410
00:22:23,551 --> 00:22:26,588
He's in jail
until God sends an earthquake.

411
00:22:26,588 --> 00:22:30,225
And in the rubble of the jail,
the jailer who was watching

412
00:22:30,225 --> 00:22:32,277
Paul, is getting ready
to take his own life

413
00:22:32,277 --> 00:22:35,664
because all the prisoners have escaped,
and he knows what that means for him.

414
00:22:35,664 --> 00:22:38,985
And Paul stops and says,
hey, listen, if I promise

415
00:22:38,985 --> 00:22:41,988
not to run away,
can I tell you about Jesus?

416
00:22:42,872 --> 00:22:46,276
That's ministry
in the equivalent of T-ball.

417
00:22:46,943 --> 00:22:50,714
Anybody can tell you about Jesus
in the midst of a supernatural earthquake.

418
00:22:50,714 --> 00:22:52,549
But you see, that's the point.

419
00:22:52,549 --> 00:22:54,585
The Bible has never been the story
of incredible

420
00:22:54,585 --> 00:22:56,354
men and women doing incredible things.

421
00:22:56,354 --> 00:23:00,758
It's been the story of ordinary men
and women experiencing incredible things

422
00:23:00,758 --> 00:23:02,544
through the power of the Holy Spirit.

423
00:23:02,544 --> 00:23:06,948
And we're going to begin as a church
to ask God, would you do something

424
00:23:06,948 --> 00:23:07,866
miraculous?

425
00:23:07,866 --> 00:23:11,470
Not because you owe us, but
because we have friends and family members

426
00:23:11,470 --> 00:23:14,473
who will never listen to the gospel
unless you do.

427
00:23:15,074 --> 00:23:18,628
Would you open doors for us
to be witnesses

428
00:23:18,795 --> 00:23:22,198
to the undeniable evidence of your power?

429
00:23:22,666 --> 00:23:23,750
I know for some of us, that's

430
00:23:23,750 --> 00:23:26,837
going to be uncomfortable,
and we'll teach you along the way.

431
00:23:26,870 --> 00:23:28,555
We'll prepare you along the way.

432
00:23:28,555 --> 00:23:31,559
But I want you to see that Jesus himself

433
00:23:32,143 --> 00:23:36,915
expected the incredible story of God,
the miracles, the power of God

434
00:23:36,948 --> 00:23:42,637
to continue from Jerusalem
to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

435
00:23:42,871 --> 00:23:46,191
And he wants you and I to be part of it.

436
00:23:46,508 --> 00:23:47,593
Let me pray for you.

437
00:23:47,593 --> 00:23:52,115
Father God, thank you so much for the
mission and ministry of the church.

438
00:23:52,432 --> 00:23:54,634
God we believe. Help our unbelief.

439
00:23:55,985 --> 00:23:58,271
Increase our desire for more

440
00:23:58,271 --> 00:24:03,343
people to be here so that they can hear,
that they can be forgiven.

441
00:24:03,343 --> 00:24:07,264
And God,
increase our appetite for you to do more,

442
00:24:07,264 --> 00:24:10,268
for you to break out of the little box
that we have you in.

443
00:24:10,318 --> 00:24:14,189
That's once a week on Sundays
or Thursday nights when we gather.

444
00:24:14,189 --> 00:24:18,593
But we would say, God, if you're
in the business of doing the miraculous

445
00:24:18,627 --> 00:24:23,399
to help people come to know who you are,
we just want to be around for that.

446
00:24:23,432 --> 00:24:25,184
We we don't want to be the reason for it.

447
00:24:25,184 --> 00:24:27,186
We don't want to be the ones
people talk about.

448
00:24:27,186 --> 00:24:31,107
We just want to be witnesses to it
and for it.

449
00:24:32,075 --> 00:24:35,712
God, would you use us in that way
for your glory

450
00:24:35,712 --> 00:24:39,383
and for the good of our friends
and our family and our colleagues

451
00:24:39,383 --> 00:24:43,704
and our neighbors that have still yet
to put their trust in you?

452
00:24:43,871 --> 00:24:47,041
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.